Marriage in the survivors of childhood cancer: A preliminary description from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study

Background. The goal of this paper is to provide a preliminary description of the marital status for a large number of childhood cancer survivors part icipating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Procedure. This report includes children and adolescents(<21 years of age) diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 1986 at 25 oncology centers in the U nited States and Canada who survived at least 5 years from diagnosis. Self- reported data from 10,425 survivors are used in this preliminary descriptiv e summary. The proportion of survivors ever married and divorced/separated is compared to the U.S. population according to age-specific groups. The me dian age of the survivor population at diagnosis was 7 years and 26 years a t the time martial status was ascertained. Excluded from this assessment ar e children <15 years of age at the time of study, those whose martial statu s was unknown, and those married prior to diagnosis. Data for marital statu s of the U.S. population, as tabulated in the Bureau of Census 1995 Update, is used as a general comparison to the survivor population. Results. Overall, 32% of the survivors reported being married or living as married, 6% being divorced or separated, 0% being widowed, and 62% having n ever been married. In general, compared to the U.S- population, survivors w ere less likely to have ever married,particularly females and whites, but, once married, were less likely to divorce/separate, again particularly fema les and whites. Black survivors were generally found to be more likely to h ave married, with males and blacks more likely to divorce/separate once mar ried. Comparison of childhood tumor types suggested that survivors of CNS t umors, particularly males, were less likely to have ever married and more l ikely to divorce/separate compared to those with other cancer diagnoses and the general U.S. population. Conclusions. This interim evaluation of the CCSS cohort provided preliminar y data describing a suggested decreased likelihood of marriage, which may,b e influenced by gender and/or race. These patterns must be confirmed within the entire CCSS cohort and comparisons made with an appropriate sibling co mparison group before making final conclusions. Med. Pediatr. Oncol. 33:60- 63, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.