What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate the incidence of developmental disorders in children diagnosed with cancer shortly after diagnosis.

January 25, 2026

Developmental Disorders in Children Recently Diagnosed With Cancer

Key Points

To investigate the incidence of developmental disorders in children diagnosed with cancer shortly after diagnosis.
Analyzed linked Ohio cancer registry and Medicaid data from 2016 to 2019
Compared developmental disorders between children with cancer and cancer-free controls
Used statistical analyses to determine the risk of developmental disorders post-diagnosis
Pre-diagnosis, developmental disorders were similarly prevalent in both groups (16% vs. 16.9%)
Post-diagnosis, children with cancer had over twice the risk of developmental disorders (ARR 2.09)
Findings indicate developmental disorders arise soon after cancer diagnosis, likely due to treatment or toxicities

Abstract

ABSTRACT Neurocognitive deficits in adult survivors of childhood cancer are well established, but less is known about developmental disorders (DD) arising shortly after cancer diagnosis. Using 2016–2019 linked Ohio cancer registry and Medicaid data, we compared DD among 324 children with cancer and 606,913 cancer‐free controls. Pre‐diagnosis, DD prevalence was similar (16% vs. 16.9%). However, post‐diagnosis, children with cancer had over twice the risk of DD (ARR 2.09, 95% CI 1.55–2.83) across developmental domains. These findings reveal that DD emerges soon after cancer diagnosis, potentially related to treatment and/or secondary toxicities and highlight the need for early screening and rehabilitative intervention.

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Cite This Study

Shoag et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6975b2aefeba4585c2d6e310 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/1545-5017.70151

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