Endocrine sequelae in childhood cancer survivors

Thanks to the advances in cancer treatment, the five-year survival rate after childhood cancer has increased up to 80%. Therefore 1/500 young adults will be a survivor. Endocrine sequelae are most common, affecting 40-60% of survivors. The most frequent sequelae include growth failure and gonadal and thyroid diseases. Sequelae occur more frequently in survivors from central nervous system tumors, leukemia, and lymphoma. Their development will depend on the type of cancer, its location, age at diagnosis, and treatment administered. Treatments associated to more endocrine sequels are cranial radiotherapy and hematopoietic cell transplantation. Because of the high prevalence of endocrine sequelae, international guidelines recommend endocrinologists to prospectively evaluate the survivors. As some of these endocrine changes will not develop until adult life, transition programs should be implemented, and active investigation should be made to decrease the endocrine consequences of cancer treatment.