7 Healthcast
Cancer care
Cancer risks topping today's health cast.
There are 35-thousand pediatric cancer survivors in the U.S., unfortunately for many of them, the battle isn't over. Childhood cancer survivors have a significantly higher risk for the disease later in life. But a new study finds many aren't taking the necessary steps to prevent a relapse.
Stephanie Leser was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was 10, and even though she beat the disease two years later, in some ways it never left.
Stephanie Leser, pediatric cancer survivor
"There's not a day that goes by that something doesn't trigger a question, or it doesn't get brought up in my mind of what I've been through."
Treatments like chemotherapy, radiation and surgery- all of which increased her risk for a second cancer later in life
Stephanie is getting preventative cancer screenings to lower her risk for relapse, but a new study finds a majority of pediatric cancer survivors are not
Stephanie Leser, pediatric cancer survivor
"There were so many things they didn't know then, of the repercussions of the chemotherapy and radiation."
Researchers at the University of Toronto looked at how many childhood cancer survivors had the preventative screening tests they were told to get. of the eight thousand high-risk survivors included in the study, only 11 percent had a colonoscopy, 46 percent had a mammogram, and 26 percent had a complete skin exam.
Pediatric cancer experts say survivors need to be their own advocate, and learn about the treatment they had.
Lisa Diller, MD., clinical director of pediatric oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
"Children who've been treated with radiation to the chest are at risk, girls mostly, are at risk for breast cancer. And we do know that early mammography makes a difference in that case."
Stephanie has faced an uphill battle to get mammograms, she's been turned away because of her young age.
Stephanie Leser, pediatric cancer survivor
"Even with my history I was batted down, and even after repeated times of asking and begging and wanting I've been refused."
Stephanie says she will continue to fight so she can keep doing what she loves: working as a pediatric oncology nurse, and being a mom.
Another study presented at the conference found childhood cancer survivors have a five-times greater risk for post-traumatic stress disorder, another condition experts say should be checked for during survivors' follow-up care.
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