Language abilities of children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: Preliminary findings

Indices of Language Outcome 11 Years After Intrathecal Chemotherapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Sibling Case-Control Study

“…Some studies have reported that the N400 varies across the life span where the N400 is inversely correlated with age, with larger N400 amplitudes found in children than in adults and the elderly [56,57]. However, given Gonzalez-Garrido et al's [58] findings that showed no differences in N400 amplitude or latency amongst children of [7][8][9][10], and 11-12 years of age, it would be expected that, despite the age difference, the N400 between ACB and his sibling would be comparable.…”

“…The importance of language skills to maximizing success in academic, social, and vocational engagement is recognized [4][5][6][7], as is the importance to language skills of the cognitive environment in which the child develops [16]. The current understanding of the impact upon language skill development of CNS-directed treatments administered for ALL is based on treatment protocols with reduced contemporary relevance [8][9][10][11] or based on findings where control cohorts have not been matched on important environmental variables known to strongly influence developmental language outcomes [12]. The present pilot study, the first survivor-focused language study to apply the deconfounding principle by using a sibling as a control, identified comparable language skills between a child treated with ITC 11 years prior and his non-ITC-treated sibling.…”

Language Skills in a Child With Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy Following Intrathecal Chemotherapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

“…Declining language skills may detrimentally impact upon a child's social, academic, and behavioral outcomes [11][12][13]. With reports of language deficits associated with central nervous system (CNS)-directed treatments for ALL [14][15][16], and the potentially exaggerated detrimental effect on cerebral white matter due to increased drug sensitivity associated with LHON, the child's language skills were monitored to determine if intervention, environmental support, and/or long-term follow-up was warranted to optimise his future prospects. It was hypothesized that the child would present with language difficulties due to intensified negative effects of CNS-directed chemotherapy on white matter integrity resulting from his concomitant LHON diagnosis.…”