A 3-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND ACADEMIC FUNCTIONING OF CHILDREN RECEIVING CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM PROPHYLACTIC CHEMOTHERAPY FOR LEUKEMIA

This prospective study compared the intellectual and academic function ing of two groups of children treated for cancer over the 3 years afte r their diagnosis. One group consisted of children who received centra l nervous system (CNS) prophylactic chemotherapy, and the other group consisted of children with cancer who did not receive CNS chemotherapy . The results suggest that the children who received CNS chemotherapy experienced more adverse effects from their treatment in the area of a cademic functioning than the children who did not receive CNS chemothe rapy. Although there were no differences in the academic functioning o f the two groups of children immediately after their diagnosis, 3 year s postdiagnosis, the CNS-treated children scored more poorly on academ ic tests of reading, spelling, and arithmetic than the non-CNS-treated children. The results suggest that CNS chemotherapy prophylaxis may i mpede academic achievement.