Educational outcomes school year nine in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A nationwide registry-based study from Sweden.

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) constitutes approximately 25% of pediatric cancers, and with contemporary protocols, the 5-year survival rate is over 90%. Despite improved survival, neurocognitive impairments from treatment raise concerns. This registry study aimed to explore the impact of ALL treatment on educational outcomes from school year nine in Swedish children. A population-based cohort of 503 children diagnosed with ALL from 1990 to 2010 was identified from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry and matched with five controls each. Assessed variables were delayed graduation, high school eligibility, total merit value, school grades in Swedish, English, mathematics, and physical education, and results in national tests. Analyses were performed between cases and controls and by sex, age at diagnosis, and risk group. Our results showed that, compared to controls, cases had higher odds for delayed graduation, poorer results in physical education, and higher rates of absence in national tests in English and mathematics. Children in the standard-risk group (treated with first-line chemotherapy only) exhibited similar results to matched controls whereas children in the high-risk group (treated with cranial irradiation, hematological stem cell transplantation, or/and for ALL relapse and thus likely received also radiotherapy) had lower total merit value compared to controls. We conclude that Swedish children diagnosed with ALL between the years 1990-2010 mainly exhibited comparable educational outcomes to controls, although children in the high-risk group had lower results. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating especially children with high-risk ALL in order to identify those requiring educational support and for designing targeted interventions.