title: Effects of chemotherapy on neurocognitive function in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a critical review of the literature.
abstract: Chemotherapy-only treatment has increasingly become the standard of treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The objective of this review is to assess the present state of knowledge of the neurocognitive effects of central nervous system (CNS)-directed chemotherapy in children with ALL, and to formulate directions for future research. We performed a review of studies published since 1997, that included an ALL group treated with chemotherapy only and a control group. Twenty-one studies met our inclusion criteria. There is evidence of subtle long-term neurocognitive deficits survivors of childhood ALL after treatment with chemotherapy only. These involve mainly processes of attention and of executive functioning, while global intellectual function is relatively preserved. Young age at diagnosis and female sex emerged as risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ai.buizer@vumc.nl
authors.forename: Annemieke I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Buizer
authors.forename: Leo M J
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Sonneville
authors.forename: Anjo J P
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Veerman
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D017741:Survivors
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents