Adult psychosocial outcomes in long-term survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and Wilms' tumour: a controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Variability in methods and deficits in design have contributed to conflicting findings about adult psychosocial functioning after childhood cancer. We did a controlled study of psychosocial outcomes in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and Wilms' tumour to address previous methods limitations.
METHODS: We assessed 102 survivors of childhood ALL and Wilms' tumour, who had been free from relapse for 5 years and were aged 19-30 years, and 102 unrelated healthy controls. We used standard measures of adult psychiatric disorder, interpersonal and social-role performance, and intellectual ability to assess past and current functioning.
FINDINGS: Cancer survivors had no increased rates of psychiatric disorder. Mean scores of cancer survivors were significantly higher (indicating poorer functioning) than those of controls for love/sex relationships (mean difference 0.87 [95% CI 0.53-1.22]), friendships (0.37 [0.07-0.67]), non-specific social contacts (0.40 [0.20-0.60]), and day-to-day coping (0.35 [0.14-0.57]). Cancer survivors were more likely than controls to have a combination of deficits in love/sex relationships and friendships (ALL survivors odds ratio 10.83 [95% CI 3.87-30.82], Wilms' tumour survivors 4.85 [1.43-16.47]), which was associated with more recent treatment (p=0.005). Poor coping was associated with lower intellectual ability scores (p=0.018).
INTERPRETATION: Childhood ALL and Wilms' tumour have long-term effects on interpersonal functioning and coping, probably mediated by different mechanisms. Prospective studies with each of these tumour groups are needed with similar adolescent and adult outcome measures.