Physiologic frailty and neurocognitive decline among young-adult childhood cancer survivors

Eight percent of young-adult (age 18-45 years) childhood cancer survivors meet criteria for frailty. In the elderly general population, frailty in associated with neurocognitive decline. A prospective study from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort assessed prefrailty and frailty in young adult childhood cancer survivors (average age 30 years, 22 years from diagnosis); 18% were prefrail and 6% were frail. The survivors completed neuropsychological assessments at enrolment and 5 years later. Over 5 years, prefrail and frail survivors had greater declines in cognitive domains associated with aging and dementia compared with nonfrail survivors.