Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) undergo intense anticancer treatment. We systematically reviewed 22 studies evaluating 2,073 ALL patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL) and its clinical/demographic correlates during treatment. Overall HRQL was significantly reduced on treatment. Despite HRQL improvements over time, longitudinal studies reported a proportion of children continued to experience reduced HRQL after treatment completion. We found inconsistent associations between clinical/demographic factors and HRQL outcomes. Tentative evidence emerged for worse HRQL being associated with intensive phases of chemotherapy, corticosteroid therapy, experiencing greater toxicity, older age, and female sex. Longitudinal studies are needed to identify children at-risk of reduced HRQL.

ALL survivors appeared to have worse or equivalent HRQL compared with controls, but better HRQL than survivors of other cancer types. However, studies reported a wide variability in HRQL and potential risk factors for poor HRQL. Measuring ALL survivors' HRQL longitudinally and comprehensively assessing potential risk factors might identify future avenues to intervene early.

Future efforts towards tailoring information on potential late effects, healthy lifestyles and follow-up care may help to address unmet information needs.

Purpose: To facilitate the implementation of long-term follow-up (LTFU) care and improve equality of care for childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer survivors, the PanCareSurFup Guidelines Working Group developed evidence-based recommendations for the organisation of LTFU. Methods: We established an international multidisciplinary guideline panel. A systematic review of the literature published from 1999-2017 was completed to answer six clinical questions. The guideline panel reviewed the identified studies, developed evidence summaries, appraised the quality of the body of evidence and formulated recommendations based on the evidence, expert opinions, and the need to maintain flexibility of application across different healthcare systems. Results: We provide strong recommendations based on low level evidence and expert opinions, regarding organization of LTFU care, personnel involved in LTFU care, components of LTFU care and start of LTFU care. We recommend that risk adapted LTFU care provided under the guidance of a cancer survivorship expert service or cancer centre should be available and accessible for all CAYA cancer survivors throughout their lifespan. Conclusion: Despite the weak levels of evidence, successful and effective implementation of these recommendations should improve LTFU, thereby leading to better access to appropriate healthcare services and an improvement in health outcomes for CAYA cancer survivors. Implications for cancer survivors: To improve health outcomes and quality of survivorship of current and future survivors, continued age-adapted education of survivors about the cancer, its treatment, risk for late-effects, importance of health behaviours, and necessity of LTFU is important along the cancer and survivorship trajectory.

The physical and cognitive impacts of treatment can make returning to school/work challenging for AYA cancer survivors. Adolescents and young adults experiencing difficulties may benefit from additional supports to facilitate meaningful engagement with their chosen educational/vocational goals.

BackgroundTaking care of children diagnosed with cancer affects parents’ professional life. The impact in the long-term however, is not clear. We aimed to compare the employment situation of parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors with control parents of the general population, and to identify clinical and socio-demographic factors associated with parental employment.MethodsAs part of the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, we sent a questionnaire to parents of survivors aged 5–15 years, who survived ≥5 years after diagnosis. Information on control parents of the general population came from the Swiss Health Survey (restricted to men and women with ≥1 child aged 5–15 years). Employment was categorized as not employed, part-time, and full-time employed. We used generalized ordered logistic regression to determine associations with clinical and socio-demographic factors. Clinical data was available from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry.ResultsWe included 394 parent-couples of survivors and 3’341 control parents (1’731 mothers; 1’610 fathers). Mothers of survivors were more often not employed (29% versus 22%; ptrend = 0.007). However, no differences between mothers were found in multivariable analysis. Fathers of survivors were more often employed full-time (93% versus 87%; ptrend = 0.002), which remained significant in multivariable analysis. Among parents of survivors, mothers with tertiary education (OR = 2.40, CI:1.14–5.07) were more likely to be employed. Having a migration background (OR = 3.63, CI: 1.71–7.71) increased the likelihood of being full-time employed in mothers of survivors. Less likely to be employed were mothers of survivors diagnosed with lymphoma (OR = 0.31, CI:0.13–0.73) and >2 children (OR = 0.48, CI:0.30–0.75); and fathers of survivors who had had a relapse (OR = 0.13, CI:0.04–0.36).ConclusionEmployment situation of parents of long-term survivors reflected the more traditional parenting roles. Specific support for parents with low education, additional children, and whose child had a more severe cancer disease could improve their long-term employment situation.

Parents reported that they received mainly verbal information. However, they still needed further information especially about possible late effects. Individual long-term follow-up plans, including a treatment summary, should be provided to each survivor, preferably in written format.

Objective: Childhood cancer can have short-and long-term impacts on parents' finances and employment. It is important to understand how families adjust to the financial and employment changes caused by childhood cancer, the ongoing impacts after treatment completion, and which families need more targeted support. Qualitative research is necessary to facilitate an in-depth understanding of the employment and financial impacts on families and to capture parents' complex and nuanced experiences and perspectives. Methods:We interviewed 56 parents of childhood cancer survivors (M = 2.13 years after treatment completion; 89% mothers) using the vocational and financial impact section of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Carer Interview Form. We analyzed interviews using content analysis.