title: Neuropsychological resiliency after treatment for advanced stage neuroblastoma.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe the neuropsychological functioning of survivors of advanced stage neuroblastoma. In all, 16 survivors, diagnosed at a median of 2.8 years, who had received intensive chemotherapy and surgical treatments, were identified; 11 had received myeloablative consolidation therapy, eight with total body irradiation (TBI). All patients were evaluated with a neuropsychological assessment battery at a median age of 8.8 years. Analyses included comparison of the performances of the TBI group vs the no-TBI group; determination of whether the proportion of individuals with impaired or superior performance on each measure exceeded normative expectations; and performance indexes reflecting patterns of performance. Results indicate no significant deleterious impact of TBI and/or presence or absence of myeloablative therapy on neurocognitive and neurobehavioral functioning. For this cohort, resilience to neuropsychological vulnerability was observed, which included the emergence of a profile of full-scale IQ, verbal IQ, and mathematical achievement well above average expectations. We concluded that the results document a lack of neuropsychological morbidity among this cohort of survivors of advanced stage neuroblastoma, regardless of the inclusion of TBI. Moreover, a striking pattern of excellent neurocognitive functioning with intact neurobehavioral functioning was observed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. sarah.carpentieri@carpenburymed.com
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Carpentieri
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Diller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012307:Risk Factors; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation