Child cancer linked to developmental delay

Infants and toddlers treated for cancer appear to lag in language and motor skills within months of starting treatment, U.S. and Italian researchers found. First author Marc H. Bornstein, head of Child and Family Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the Institutes of Health, said the findings indicated young children with cancer might benefit from physical or language therapy. Children treated for cancer before age 4 progressed more slowly in vocabulary and cognitive functions such as attention and memory and motor skills, compared to children who had not had cancer, Bornstein said. The researchers evaluated 61 children ages 6 months to 3 1/2 years old. All were being treated for tumors or cancers of the blood when they entered the study and averaged 19 months at diagnosis. They received an average of three months of treatment at the time they were evaluated for cognitive and emotional development. The study published in Journal of Pediatric Psychology found the cancer treatment did not appear to affect children's social and emotional development. Their ability to respond to their parents was comparable to that of their peers who did not have cancer.