Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) is proud to launch its new late effects information portfolio, to help prepare childhood cancer patients for how their life may be affected as a result of their treatment.
Over the last 50 years, treatment and care has progressed so that more than eight in 10 children now survive their cancer. However, many of them experience lifelong side effects, known as ‘late effects’, as a consequence of their disease and intensive treatment.
As more and more young people survive their cancer - with more than 40,000 childhood cancer survivors now in the UK - late effects has become an important area of care.
CCLG’s new, expert-written information package is therefore a hugely-needed resource, which provides key and comprehensive information to help childhood cancer survivors stay healthy throughout their lives.
It includes an updated guide for survivors of childhood cancer - titled ‘Living beyond cancer’ - and information on CCLG’s website, as well as 24 new factsheets about different late effects. These factsheets will be given to patients by their long-term follow-up team who will identify which ones are relevant for the individual.
Dr Helen Jenkinson, a consultant paediatric oncologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital (BCH) and member of CCLG’s Late Effects Group, played a leading role in developing the new resources.
She explained that not only will they help young cancer survivors understand their treatment and its possible long-term effects, but will empower them to make sensible and informed decisions about their health.
She said:
There are an increasing number of children and young people who have been treated successfully for cancer.
It’s important to provide young people with an opportunity to learn about the treatment they received and the follow-up they require, as many of these children were too young to be involved in the discussions at the time of diagnosis.
Both the cancer and its treatment may have longer-term effects on their health and wellbeing and it is important that young people are aware of these to help them to make the right choices about their health as they grow older.
Written information, available as a fact sheet or via CCLG’s website, provides young people with the knowledge they need to discuss their individual late effects with their clinical team and a document to refer to at a later date.
Each patient will have a bespoke pack containing the fact sheets relevant to them, in addition to general information leaflets covering lifestyle choices.