Cancer survivors may see cognitive problems when fatigued

By Staff Writer

Most people who skip a night of sleep have to struggle through the next day, performing poorly on mental tasks like making quick decisions or remembering lists.

However, the effect is even greater for childhood cancer survivors, who are at greater risk for neurocognitive problems as a result of their treatment, a new study shows.

Modern cancer therapies have helped about 80 percent of patients survive the disease, but treatments such as high-dose cranial irradiation, steroids and certain chemotherapy agents can magnify their reaction to sleep deprivation and fatigue.

The results can dramatically reduce an adult’s thinking and reasoning abilities, including impaired memory, emotional control and organization, according to research published in the April 11 edition of the journal Cancer.

In turn, those cognitive challenges can hurt a survivor’s ability to hold a job, live independently, marry or form other social connections.

Fortunately, the rate of sleep disturbance is no higher among childhood cancer survivors than in their healthy siblings, the study showed. The problem is that survivors feel its effects more acutely, showing a three- to four-fold increase of exhibiting neurocognitive problems.