August 26, 2005 - Almost a third of children who survive brain tumors need special education services and suffer from chronic discomfort, scientists reported in the Aug. 20 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. While the survival rate of children with brain cancer is almost 70 percent, the effects can linger for decades or a lifetime, the study found.

Children who underwent radiation treatments reported worse ongoing side effects than those who underwent only surgery because radiation has to pass through healthy cells to reach the tumor. Chronic headaches, pain, and nausea were common symptoms among the 134 former patients studied, even years after they had been treated. Ongoing emotional, social, and psychosocial problems were also common.

Childhood Cancer Survivorship: Improving Care and Quality of Life, a report by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, examines the late effects of childhood cancer and recommends policy initiatives in health care delivery and follow-up and in the education and training of health care providers.

• Childhood Cancer Survivorship: Improving Care and Quality of Life (2003)

• Quality-of-Life Assessment in Pediatric Brain Tumor Patients and Survivors: Lessons Learned and Challenges to Face