Awareness about the risk of hearing loss after ototoxic treatments in Swiss childhood cancer survivors

Objectives: The International Guideline Harmonization Group recommends childhood cancer survivors (CCS) exposed to ototoxic treatments be aware of the risk of hearing loss. We assessed awareness among adult CCS. Methods: We identified adults diagnosed with cancer <20 years who received ototoxic treatments through the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry (ChCR) and invited them to the HEAR-study. Participants completed a questionnaire and underwent pure-tone audiometry. Cancer and treatment data came from the ChCR. We used logistic regression to explore factors influencing awareness. Results: 105 of 424 invited CCS participated (25%). 57% did not remember receiving information on hearing loss prior to the study. CCS who remembered being informed were more likely diagnosed after 1995 (OR: 4.5, 95% CI: 1.3-15.4), reported hearing problems (10.9, 2.6-45.1) and other late effects (4.1, 1.3-13.2), and treated with platinum chemotherapy only (10.8, 2.2-53.2) versus cranial radiotherapy only. 44% of participants presented clinically relevant hearing loss. Conclusions: Over half of CCS exposed to ototoxic treatments were unaware of their risk of hearing loss. Practice Implications: Educating CCS about potential late effects of ototoxic treatments is important to allow early diagnosis and treatment, especially for those who had cancer longer ago and those exposed to cranial radiation.