Latent Endocrine Disorder as Late Effects of Treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Malignant Lymphoma during Childhood

Abstract

We studied the late effects of treatment on endocrine function in 22 survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and malignant lymphoma (ML), with no previous overt endocrine complications. All subjects were older than 15 years old and had undergone treatment from 1970 to 2007. Six patients (27.3%) were diagnosed as having latent endocrine disorders, including decreased secretion of growth hormone in 3 cases, latent primary hypothyroidism in two cases and latent central hypothyroidism in one case. None of the patients exhibited abnormalities in either adrenal or sex hormones. There was no significant difference in the current age (p = 0.64) or age at treatment (p = 0.84) between the patients with and without endocrine disorders. It is helpful to notice latent endocrine disorders at the subclinical stage as Late Effects of treatment of endocrine function in childhood cancer survivors. This early detection and intervention leads to further improvement of the QOL for childhood cancer survivors.