Children under 7 are more likely than older children to have their IQ impaired by irradiation therapy for a brain cancer, a U.S. and Australian study found.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Texas Children's Cancer Center in Houston and Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne found the greatest rates of decline in IQ and reading skills occurred in patients who were younger than 7 years old at diagnosis for the brain cancer medulloblastoma. Patients who were at either high or average risk of treatment failure suffered significant loss of reading skills over time following treatment, according to the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
"This study significantly adds to our understanding of the long-term neurocognitive development of these children," said Shawna Palmer, one of two lead neuropsychologists on the study. "It also helps us develop and test intervention programs that aim at reducing the deficits these children experience."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
