Post-radiation complications in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who underwent a course of cranial radiation

Purpose of the study. To analyze the physical and neuropsychiatric development of pediatric patients who underwent cranial irradiation in the period from 2015 to 2020 in the radiotherapy department of the National Research Center of Oncology and to assess the risk of post-radiation complications.

Materials and methods. 17 children aged from 3 to 17 years were hospitalized under medical supervision in the department of pediatric oncology of the National Medical Research Centre for Oncology. All the children underwent a course of conformal radiation therapy totally on the brain area and the first two cervical vertebrae in the radiotherapy department of the National Medical Research Centre for Oncology. 13 patients (76.7 %) underwent radiation therapy due to the prevention of neuroleukemia with a total dose of 12 Gy (a dose per fraction was 2 Gy), 2 patients with a confirmed relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) (11.65 %), 1 patient with a confirmed diagnosis of neuroleukemia (5.8 %) and 1 patient from the high-risk group (5.8 %) – with a total dose of 18 Gy (a dose per fraction was 2 Gy). Further 75 month regular medical checkup was carried out on the basis of the Regional Children's Clinical Hospital for.

Results. None of the surviving patients showed growth retardation. Two patients (11.65 %) complained of increased fatigue, decreased concentration; one patient (5.8 %) showed unmotivated irritability and aggression during the examination. Intellectual development corresponded to age in all patients (100 %). One patient (5.8 %) experienced episodes of nausea and vomiting (grade 1 on the CTCAE scale), three patients (17.7 %) suffered from headache (grade 2 on the CTCAE scale), three patients (17.7 %) complained of fever up to 38 °C (1 degree on the CTCAE scale). Two out of 17 ALL patients died due to disease progression.

Conclusion. Taking into account the different time intervals between treatment and the moment of the study (from 9 to 75 months), cranial irradiation demonstrates relative safety for patients undergoing treatment during critical periods of development of both physical and neuropsychic spheres. However, an objective assessment of the development prospects is difficult due to the relatively short time after undergoing therapy (from 9 to 75 months) and a small sample of patients.

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