Mitigation of risk factors for frailty needed in adult survivors of childhood cancers

Adult survivors of childhood cancers may develop frailty at higher rates than expected, leading researchers to suggest mitigating known risk factors for frailty in this population, according to a study.

In this study, frailty was assessed when the cancer survivor entered the study and again 5 years later. Participant ages were between were age 18–45 years when they entered the study.

At the second assessment 5 years later, prevalent frailty nearly doubled, increasing from 6.2% to 13.6%. Among all survivors, risk factors for frailty included chest radiation ≥20 Gy, cardiac/neurological conditions, lack of strength training, sedentary lifestyle, and frailty at study entry. Prior frailty was the strongest risk factor for death

Reference
Delaney A, Howell CR, Krull KR, et al. Progression of frailty in survivors of childhood cancer: a St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Report. 2021; JNCI; https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djab033