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Hardy KK, Kairalla JA, Gioia AR, Weisman HS, Gurung M, Noll RB, Hinds PS, Hibbitts E, Salzer WL, Burke MJ, Winick NJ, Embry L. Impaired neurocognitive functioning 3 months following diagnosis of high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A report from the Children's Oncology Group. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2023; 70:e30350. [PMID: 37129114 PMCID: PMC10205681 DOI: 10.1002/pbc.30350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer diagnosis. Cognitive late effects develop in 20%-40% of ALL survivors, but the course of declines is unclear. The aim of this paper is to characterize cognitive functioning, and its association with patient-reported outcomes, early in treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 483 children with high-risk ALL, aged 6-12 years at diagnosis, consented to the neurocognitive study embedded in a prospective therapeutic trial, Children's Oncology Group (COG) AALL1131. A computerized neurocognitive battery (Cogstate) was administered 3 months post diagnosis assessing reaction time, visual attention, working memory, visual learning, and executive functioning. Parent-reported executive functioning and patient-reported physical symptoms were also collected. RESULTS Data from 390 participants (mean age at diagnosis = 9.2 years, 55.4% male) were obtained. Relatively few patients reported pain (16.0%) or nausea (22.6%), but a majority (68.5%) reported feeling at least some fatigue at testing. Mean Cogstate Z-scores were within normal limits across tasks; however, rates of impairment (Z-scores ≤ -1.5) for reaction time, working memory, visual learning, and visual attention were all higher than expected compared to the standardization sample. Patients reporting fatigue were significantly more likely to have impaired reaction time and visual attention compared to those reporting no fatigue. CONCLUSION Findings support feasibility of computerized cognitive assessments and suggest higher-than-expected rates of impaired cognitive performance early during treatment for pediatric ALL, notably within 3 months of diagnosis, suggesting intervention efforts may be indicated. These results also highlight acute factors that may impact reliability of "baseline" assessments conducted soon after diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina K Hardy
- Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | | | | | - Meera Gurung
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Robert B Noll
- University of Pittsburgh Department of Pediatrics, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Pamela S Hinds
- Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - Wanda L Salzer
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Naomi J Winick
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Leanne Embry
- University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
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Abstract
There is increasing interest in the assessment of learning and memory in typically developing children as well as in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. However, neuropsychological assessments have been hampered by the dearth of standardised tests that enable direct comparison between distinct memory processes or between types of stimulus materials. We developed a tablet-based paired-associate learning paradigm, the Pair Test, based on neurocognitive models of learning and memory. The aims are to (i) establish the utility of this novel memory tool for use with children across a wide age range, and (ii) examine test validity, reliability and reproducibility of the construct. The convergent validity of the test was found to be adequate, and higher test reliability was shown for the Pair Test compared to standardised measures. Moderate test-retest reproducibility was shown, despite a long time interval between sessions (14 months). Moreover, the Pair Test is able to capture developmental changes in memory, and can therefore chart the developmental trajectory of memory and learning functions across childhood and adolescence. Finally, we used this novel instrument to acquire normative data from 130 typically developing children, aged 8-18 years. Age-stratified normative data are provided for learning, delayed recall and delayed recognition, for measures of verbal and non-verbal memory. The Pair Test thus provides measures of learning and memory accounting for encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes. As such, the standardised test results can be used to determine the status of learning and memory in healthy children, and also to identify deficits in paediatric patients at risk of damage to the neural network underlying mnemonic functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Buck
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, National Health Service Trust, London, UK.
| | - Filipa Bastos
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, National Health Service Trust, London, UK
- Unit of Paediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Woman-Mother-Child Department, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Torsten Baldeweg
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, National Health Service Trust, London, UK
| | - Faraneh Vargha-Khadem
- Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatry Section, Developmental Neurosciences Research and Teaching Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, National Health Service Trust, London, UK
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Salzer WL, Burke MJ, Devidas M, Dai Y, Hardy KK, Kairalla JA, Gore L, Hilden JM, Larsen E, Rabin KR, Zweidler-McKay PA, Borowitz MJ, Wood B, Heerema NA, Carroll AJ, Winick N, Carroll WL, Raetz EA, Loh ML, Hunger SP. Impact of Intrathecal Triple Therapy Versus Intrathecal Methotrexate on Disease-Free Survival for High-Risk B-Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Children's Oncology Group Study AALL1131. J Clin Oncol 2020; 38:2628-2638. [PMID: 32496902 DOI: 10.1200/jco.19.02892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The high-risk stratum of Children's Oncology Group Study AALL1131 was designed to test the hypothesis that postinduction CNS prophylaxis with intrathecal triple therapy (ITT) including methotrexate, hydrocortisone, and cytarabine would improve the postinduction 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) compared with intrathecal methotrexate (IT MTX), when given on a modified augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster backbone. PATIENTS AND METHODS Children with newly diagnosed National Cancer Institute (NCI) high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (HR B-ALL) or NCI standard-risk B-ALL with defined minimal residual disease thresholds during induction were randomly assigned to receive postinduction IT MTX or ITT. Patients with CNS3-status disease were not eligible. Postinduction IT therapy was given for a total of 21 to 26 doses. Neurocognitive assessments were performed during therapy and during 1 year off therapy. RESULTS Random assignment was closed to accrual in March 2018 after a futility boundary had been crossed, concluding that ITT could not be shown to be superior to IT MTX. The 5-year postinduction DFS and overall survival rates (± SE) of children randomly assigned to IT MTX versus ITT were 93.2% ± 2.1% v 90.6% ± 2.3% (P = .85), and 96.3% ± 1.5% v 96.7% ± 1.4% (P = .77), respectively. There were no differences in the cumulative incidence of isolated bone marrow relapse, isolated CNS relapse, or combined bone marrow and CNS relapse rates, or in toxicities observed for patients receiving IT MTX compared with ITT. There were no significant differences in neurocognitive outcomes for patients receiving IT MTX compared with ITT. CONCLUSION Postinduction CNS prophylaxis with ITT did not improve 5-year DFS for children with HR B-ALL. The standard of care for CNS prophylaxis for children with B-ALL and no overt CNS involvement remains IT MTX.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael J Burke
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
| | - Meenakshi Devidas
- Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
| | - Yunfeng Dai
- Department of Biostatistics, Colleges of Medicine and Public Health & Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | | | - John A Kairalla
- Department of Biostatistics, Colleges of Medicine and Public Health & Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Lia Gore
- Department of Pediatrics, Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO.,University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO
| | - Joanne M Hilden
- Department of Pediatrics, Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO.,University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO
| | - Eric Larsen
- Department of Pediatrics, Maine Children's Cancer Program, Scarborough, ME
| | - Karen R Rabin
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | | | - Michael J Borowitz
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
| | - Brent Wood
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
| | - Nyla A Heerema
- Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University School of Medicine, Columbus, OH
| | - Andrew J Carroll
- Department of Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
| | - Naomi Winick
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
| | - William L Carroll
- Department of Pediatrics, Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
| | - Elizabeth A Raetz
- Department of Pediatrics, Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
| | - Mignon L Loh
- Department of Pediatrics, Benioff Children's Hospital and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Stephen P Hunger
- Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.,Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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