M. Kato et al., 10-YEAR SURVEY OF THE INTELLECTUAL DEFICITS IN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA RECEIVING CHEMOIMMUNOTHERAPY, Medical and pediatric oncology, 21(6), 1993, pp. 435-440
Effects of chemoimmunotherapy, including cranial irradiation for centr
al nervous system (CNS)-directed therapy, on children with acute lymph
oblastic leukemia (ALL) were investigated. Fifty-five children with AL
L in continuous complete remission (>5 yr) and without evidence of cur
rent or past CNS diseases were evaluated in this retrospective study.
Using standard measures of intelligence (IQ), we repeatedly (1-4 times
/person; mean 2.1 times) evaluated IQ in the cohort of patients for th
e mean follow-up time of 9.7 yr, ranging from 5.4 to 15.8 yr. Fifty-fi
ve patients received the total number of 118 IQ testings and 40 patien
ts received them more than twice. Patients were examined periodically
at intervals of 1.4 to 10.0 yr (mean 4.8 yr) following diagnosis. Most
of the published studies dealt with single IQ testing, and long-term
follow-ups were not enough to assess the consequent IQ change. This re
port confirms and extends the previous findings: decreased IQ was rela
ted to age at diagnosis and irradiation (<5 yr of age at diagnosis), i
rradiation-examination interval, and female sex. Further long-term fol
low-up study will be needed in these groups, since their IQs are still
on the decline even after 10 yr of diagnosis. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, In
c.