Impact of Platinum-Related Hearing Loss on Quality of Life and Educational Attainment in Germ Cell Tumor Survivors
Abstract
In this application, we are proposing to evaluate the impact of hearing loss and neuropathy on quality of life and educational attainment in pediatric and adolescent survivors of germ cell tumors (GCT). This information may better help us identify individuals at highest risk for poor health after cancer treatment and will contribute knowledge that can be used to develop survivorship care guidelines specific to this population. This application is focused on the Fiscal Year 2021 Peer Review Cancer Research Program Topic Area of Germ Cell Cancers and will address a gap in knowledge that could impact mission readiness for military members, Veterans, their beneficiaries, and the general public. Specifically, we will evaluate late effects that could impact quality of life and prohibit individuals from being able to serve in the military. GCTs are cancers that affect approximately 600 children and adolescents per year in the United States; they are also the most common type of cancer in young adult men. The incidence rates for GCTs are rising in some age groups, and we aren’t sure why this is happening. Little is known about why these types of cancers develop, but it is possible that abnormalities in underlying genetic processes that occur during fetal development play a role. Survival rates are high for GCTs due to the effectiveness of platinum-based chemotherapy; however, little is known about the health effects of this treatment, because GCT patients have not been included in previous studies of childhood cancer survivors. Based on data from adult men with GCTs who are treated with the same three chemotherapy drugs, considerable late effects of cancer treatment are likely to exist including second cancers, hearing loss, heart disease, and infertility. Our assembled study population provides a unique opportunity to evaluate late effects of treatment in pediatric GCT. Over the past ten years, we have conducted the first large genetic epidemiology study of childhood and adolescent GCT, including over 850 GCT patients and their biological parents. As part of this study, 95% of the families agreed to be contacted about future research studies. This assembled study population represents a unique opportunity to address our lack of information about poor health outcomes in GCT survivors. In order to improve our ability to detect relevant health effects of treatment, we will also recruit additional cases from the Children’s Oncology Group registry protocol (APEC14B1). In the proposed project, we will conduct the first large study of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult GCT survivors. We will collect information on treatment received, disease relapse, and other health consequences of treatment by contacting participants directly and by reviewing medical records from the hospitals where patients received their GCT treatment and subsequent health care. These data will be used to achieve the two main goals of the study, which are (1) to evaluate the impact of hearing loss on quality of life and educational attainment, and (2) to determine whether peripheral neuropathy occurs in young survivors of GCT and whether this condition impacts quality of life. These data will have an impact on the short-term care of patients with GCT by helping us to identify patients who would benefit from targeted interventions to reduce the impact of treatment-related health outcomes on quality of life. For example, data demonstrating an association between subclinical hearing impairment and lower educational attainment would suggest that survivors may benefit from more intensive educational and vocational support following therapy, including interventions such as remote microphone technology, classroom FM systems, or low-gain hearing aids. The results of our analyses will also have broader impact as the main chemotherapy drug used to treat GCT patients, cisplatin, is widely used in the treatment of cancer in children and adults. The assembled study popu
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210184
Entities
People
- Jenny N. Poynter
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Minnesota