Chemotherapy in children can affect memory later

Children who survive chemotherapy episodes may affect memory and thinking problems after adulthood - a new small study suggests.

Specifically, the researchers evaluated 31 children who had undergone chemotherapy episodes at an average age of 6 and compared with a control group of children aged 6 years without chemotherapy.

Later, both groups were able to take tests on long-term memory, concentration.

The results showed that, compared to the control group, the children had chemotherapy with poorer thinking, shorter memory. And maybe this symptom develops after they're chemotherapy, before treatment, maybe they have the same rate as the control group. The researchers explained.

Iris Elens said: "These tests require a quick transition between tasks or memorizing new information in a short period of time, obviously more difficult for previous cancer patients. This is the stage of brain development. At the beginning of cancer treatment can play a decisive role in these depressions' - Rudi D'Hooge, professor at Leuven University said in a declare.

Not only that, the researchers also measured protein levels called p-Tau in the patient's brain fluid. This protein is part of the inner structure of the patient's nerve cells.

In addition, the team also collected samples of brain fluid during cancer treatment in children and later analyzed p-Tau protein levels to measure the extent of damage to brain cells.

The results show that high levels of p-Tau protein may be associated with child cognition later in life - D'Hooge said.

'If we systematically evaluate the concentration of P-tau protein in the future, we can determine the child's cognitive status through certain measurement tools. This will open a new era to prevent dementia in children after 10-15 years after chemotherapy, ' Elens said.

This research has just been published in the National Cancer Institute Journal.