Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life

As survival rates for childhood cancers have improved dramatically over recent decades, researchers have turned sustained attention to understanding what life actually looks like for the growing population of long-term survivors. Scientists use tools like the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and draw on large cohort studies such as the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study to measure how cancer and its treatments affect physical health, neurocognitive function, and psychosocial well-being across childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. A central challenge is reconciling the perspectives of patients, parents, and clinicians, since parent-proxy reports often diverge from children's self-assessments in ways that complicate how outcomes are interpreted and acted upon. Active work continues on identifying which survivors face the greatest long-term burdens, how palliative and supportive care can be integrated earlier in treatment, and what interventions can meaningfully improve outcomes for adolescent and young adult patients navigating the transition out of pediatric care.

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Keywords

Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryChildhood Cancer Survivor StudyHealth-related Quality of LifePediatric Palliative CareAdolescent and Young Adult OncologyPsychosocial Outcomes