Morbidity and mortality among childhood medulloblastoma survivors

A population-based cohort study among five-year survivors of childhood medulloblastoma and matched population controls in Ontario, Canada, found that the survivors had a 21-fold, 45-fold, and 96-fold increased rate of death, stroke, and severe hearing loss requiring amplification devices, respectively. Among survivors, disability claims were frequent, while live births among female survivors were infrequent. The authors conclude that efforts to reduce the toxicity of current therapy are urgently needed. There is also an urgent need to develop intervention strategies to mitigate this burden of morbidity among the survivors.