Approach to metabolic syndrome in childhood cancer survivors

The combined effects of optimized chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, stem cell transplantation regimens, and improved supportive care had drastically increased the survival rate of childhood cancer. Hence, the number of adult survivors of childhood cancer is on the raise and this subset of population is gaining more attention due to the late effects of their cancer therapy. There is growing evidence that pediatric cancer survivors are at a greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MS) or the MS component traits than the general population. There is currently no drug therapy to treat MS as a whole disease, as it is a cluster of symptoms that present uniquely among different individuals. Given the recent recognition of MS in adult survivors of childhood cancer, there is a scarcity of long-term follow-up studies of this group. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle with both dietary and physical activity is the only most powerful and most useful armor available now against obesity and its metabolic complications.