Somatic Disease in Survivors of Childhood Malignant Bone Tumors in the Nordic Countries

• Published in: Cancers
• Main Authors: Camilla Pedersen, Catherine Rechnitzer, Elisabeth Anne Wreford Andersen, Line Kenborg, Filippa Nyboe Norsker, Andrea Bautz, Thomas Baad-Hansen, Laufey Tryggvadottir, Laura-Maria Madanat-Harjuoja, Anna Sällfors Holmqvist, Lars Hjorth, Henrik Hasle, Jeanette Falck Winther, on behalf of the ALiCCS Study Group on behalf of the ALiCCS Study Group
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
• Subjects: childhood malignant bone tumors; survivorship; late effects; somatic disease; cohort study; Ewing; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184505

Survivors of malignant bone tumors in childhood are at risk of long-term adverse health effects. We comprehensively reviewed cases of somatic diseases that required a hospital contact in survivors of osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma. In a population-based cohort study, 620 five-year survivors of osteosarcoma (n = 440) or Ewing sarcoma (n = 180), diagnosed before the age of 20 years in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden during 1943–2008, were followed in the national hospital registers. Overall rates of hospital contacts for any somatic disease and for 12 main diagnostic groups and 120 specific disease categories were compared with those in a matched comparison cohort (n = 3049) randomly selected from the national population registers. The rate of hospital contact for any somatic disease was 80% higher in survivors of malignant bone tumors than in comparisons and remained elevated up to 30 years after diagnosis. The rate of hospital contacts was higher after Ewing sarcoma (rate ratio (RR) 2.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.76–2.85) than after osteosarcoma (RR 1.67; 95% CI 1.41–1.98). Elevated rates were observed for 11 main diagnostic groups, including infections, second malignant neoplasms, and diseases of the skin, bones, and circulatory, digestive, endocrine, and urinary systems. Survivors of malignant bone tumors in childhood are at increased risk of somatic diseases many years after diagnosis. This comprehensive study contributes new insight into the risk of late effects in survivors of osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma, which is an essential basis for optimal patient counseling and follow-up care.