PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Early interventions may improve long-term academic achievement in young childhood brain tumor survivors

Early interventions may improve long-term academic achievement in young childhood brain tumor survivors
2024-08-21
(Press-News.org)

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – August 20, 2024) Children who survive a brain tumor often experience effects from both the cancer and its treatment long after therapy concludes. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found very young children treated for brain tumors were less prepared for school (represented by lower academic readiness scores) compared to their peers. This gap persisted once survivors entered formal schooling. Children from families of higher socioeconomic status were partially protected from the effect, suggesting that providing early developmental resources may proactively help reduce the academic achievement gap. The findings were published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 

 

“Even in very young children, we found academic readiness was starting to lag behind healthy children their age,” said corresponding author Heather Conklin, PhD, St. Jude Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences member and Section of Neuropsychology chief. “They were gradually falling behind their same-age peers in academic fundamentals, such as learning their letters, numbers and colors.” 

 

Previous research has focused on school-aged children, but this is one of the first studies to examine academic readiness after brain tumor treatment in infants and young children (less than 3 years old). The scientists uncovered the gap in readiness skills by following a group of 70 patients who had been treated for brain tumors over time. Six months after diagnosis and annually for five years, “we found an increasing gap between these young patients treated for brain tumors and their typically developing peers because their academic readiness skills were not developing as fast,” Conklin said.

 

Even though the scientists observed gaps between the children’s abilities as they aged, it was present early and had predictive power. “Early academic readiness was predictive of long-term reading and math outcomes,” Conklin said. “The effect isn’t temporary. These children don’t just catch up naturally.”

 

Intervening early may protect academic readiness and achievement

 

While presenting a challenge, the findings also offer a strategy to address this problem: early intervention. Since the difference in academic readiness arises early after treatment, intervening then, as opposed to in elementary school (when most conventional interventions begin), may improve outcomes.

 

“We now know that we don't need to wait until patients are struggling with math and reading; we can intervene earlier,” Conklin said. “We showed that the variability we're seeing early on predicts longer-term academic skills, which highly suggests earlier interventions will be beneficial and make a real difference.”

 

Early interventions need to be informed by what increases vulnerability to or protects against the academic readiness gap to succeed. The researchers looked at the factors involved, such as treatment type and demographics, and found only one characteristic mattered. 

 

Socioeconomic status protects and suggests early interventions may work

 

“The only clinical or demographic factor we found that predicted academic readiness was socioeconomic status,” Conklin said. “Being from a family of higher socioeconomic status had a protective effect on children’s academic readiness.”

 

The finding that higher socioeconomic status is partially protective suggests that investing in resources to replace lost early enrichment experiences can mitigate the readiness gap. By increasing access to those replacement opportunities, more children could be protected.

 

“We know that  being away from their home environment, caregivers, daycare, play dates, parks and early intervention services during these critical developmental years is probably having a negative impact on very young patients,” Conklin said. “Our results suggest that families can make play meaningful, and by making little changes in how they interact with their child, with the support of their medical team and receiving appropriate resources, they may be able to make a difference in their child’s cognitive and academic outcomes.”

 

Authors and funding

The study’s first author is Melanie Somekh, formerly of St. Jude. The study’s other authors are Michelle Swain, Queensland Children's Hospital; Lana Harder, Children’s Medical Center Dallas; Bonnie Carlson-Green, Children’s Minnesota; Joanna Wallace, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford; Ryan Kaner, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego; Jeanelle S Ali, The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Jason Ashford, Jennifer Harman, Catherine Billups, Arzu Onar-Thomas, Thomas Merchant and Amar Gajjar, all of St. Jude.

 

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute (St. Jude Cancer Center Support [CORE] Grant (P30 CA21765)) and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude.

 

St. Jude Media Relations Contacts

Chelsea Bryant

Desk: (901) 595-0564

chelsea.bryant@stjude.org

media@stjude.org

 

Rae Lyn Hartley

Cell: (901) 686-2597

raelyn.hartley@stjude.org

media@stjude.org

 

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening disorders. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 60 years ago. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read St. Jude Progress, a digital magazine, and follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch. 

END


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Early interventions may improve long-term academic achievement in young childhood brain tumor survivors

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Cholecystectomy not always necessary for gallstones and abdominal pain

2024-08-21
Each year, 100,000 people visit their doctor with abdominal pain, with approximately 30,000 of them diagnosed with gallstones. The standard treatment for these patients is a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Since the 1990s, the number of surgeries has increased exponentially, despite the lack of clear international criteria. As a result, gallbladder removal is one of the most common surgeries in the Netherlands, yet it is not always effective against pain: about one-third of patients continue to experience abdominal pain after cholecystectomy. The procedure has long been an example of inappropriate care, but this is now changing. In a 2019 study conducted by Radboud university ...

Greenhouse gas HFC-23: Abatement of emissions is achievable

2024-08-21
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). The most potent of these compounds is trifluoromethane, also known as HFC-23. One kilogram of HFC-23 in the atmosphere contributes as much to the greenhouse effect as 12,000 kilograms of CO₂. It takes around 200 years for the gas to break down in the atmosphere. For this reason, more than 150 countries have committed to significantly reducing their emissions of HFC-23 as part of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The main source of HFC-23 ...

Researchers identify most common long COVID symptoms in children and teens

2024-08-21
Aug. 21, 2024--Researchers from the NIH’s RECOVER Initiative have determined what long COVID looks like in youths, based on the most common symptoms reported in a study of over 5,300 school-age children and adolescents. Using the findings, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers also created indices that contain prolonged symptoms—eight for school-age children and 10 for adolescents—that together most likely indicate long COVID. The indices are not intended to be used in making a clinical diagnosis of long COVID but will guide research to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the condition in youths.  “Many ...

NIH-funded study finds long COVID affects adolescents differently than younger children

2024-08-21
NIH-funded study finds long COVID affects adolescents differently than younger children Adolescents were most likely to experience low energy/tiredness while children were most likely to report headache   Scientists investigating long COVID in youth found similar but distinguishable patterns between school-age children (ages 6-11 years) and adolescents (ages 12-17 years) and identified their most common symptoms. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in JAMA, comes from research conducted through the NIH’s Researching ...

Characterizing long COVID in children and adolescents

2024-08-21
About The Study: In this large-scale study, symptoms that characterized pediatric postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), or long COVID, differed by age group, and several distinct phenotypic PASC presentations were described. The research indices developed here will help researchers identify children and adolescents with high likelihood of PASC. Although these indices will require further research and validation, this work provides an important step toward a clinically useful tool for diagnosis with the ultimate goal of supporting optimal care for youth with PASC.  Quote from corresponding author Rachel ...

Researchers aim to pull back the curtain on long COVID in kids

2024-08-21
The kids were correct all along.   In the most comprehensive national study since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of researchers that includes a Rutgers-organized consortium of pediatric sites has concluded that long COVID symptoms in children are tangible, pervasive, wide ranging and clinically distinct within specific age groups.   Results of the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.   “We have convincing evidence that COVID-19 is not just a mild, benign illness for children,” ...

RECOVER study determines most common long COVID symptoms in children and teens

2024-08-21
A research team led by the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER Initiative and supported by its Clinical Science Core (CSC) at NYU Langone Health, has designed a new way to identify which school-age children and adolescents most likely have Long COVID. Solely for the purpose of further study and not for use in clinical diagnoses, the team’s new measure (index) identifies children and teens with the highest chances of having Long COVID. The research index is based on long-term symptoms ...

UCLA-led study unveils new insights and potential treatments for pulmonary hypertension

2024-08-21
A new study from researchers with UCLA Health and collaborating organizations has found that asporin, a protein encoded by the ASPN gene, plays a protective role in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Their findings, published on August 21 in the peer-reviewed journal Circulation, offer new insights into this incurable, often-fatal disease and suggest potential new ways to treat it. “We were surprised to find that asporin, which previously had not been linked to PAH, gets upregulated to increased levels as a response to ...

MD Anderson research highlights for August 21, 2024

2024-08-21
HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Targeting an enzyme as part of combination therapy disrupts gastric cancer progression Many patients with gastric cancer have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, ...

Proatherogenic disorders of blood lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Proatherogenic disorders of blood lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
2024-08-21
In the realm of chronic inflammation, lipid abnormalities are well-recognized as pivotal contributors to the progression and clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis. Particularly in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systemic autoimmune disorder, the immune response leads to the generation of inflammatory cytokines that profoundly alter lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. This review article delves into the latest research exploring the impact of inflammation on proatherogenic disorders of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in RA patients, with a focus on proinflammatory cytokines. Role of Proinflammatory Cytokines in Lipid and Lipoprotein Dysregulation Inflammatory ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Community partners key to success of vaccine clinic focused on neurodevelopmental conditions

Low-carbon collaborative dual-layer optimization for energy station considering joint electricity and heat demand response

McMaster University researchers uncover potential treatment for rare genetic disorders

The return of protectionism: The impact of the Sino-US trade war

UTokyo and NARO develop new vertical seed distribution trait for soybean breeding

Research into UK’s use of plastic packaging finds households ‘wishcycle’ rather than recycle – risking vast contamination

Vaccine shows promise against aggressive breast cancer

Adverse events affect over 1 in 3 surgery patients, US study finds

Outsourcing adult social care has contributed to England’s care crisis, argue experts

The Lancet: Over 800 million adults living with diabetes, more than half not receiving treatment, global study suggests

New therapeutic approach for severe COVID-19: faster recovery and reduction in mortality

Plugged wells and reduced injection lower induced earthquake rates in Oklahoma

Yin selected as a 2024 American Society of Agronomy Fellow

Long Covid could cost the economy billions every year

Bluetooth technology unlocks urban animal secrets

This nifty AI tool helps neurosurgeons find sneaky cancer cells

Treatment advances, predictive biomarkers stand to improve bladder cancer care

NYC's ride-hailing fee failed to ease Manhattan traffic, new NYU Tandon study reveals

Meteorite contains evidence of liquid water on Mars 742 million years ago

Self-reported screening helped reduce distressing symptoms for pediatric patients with cancer

Which risk factors are linked to having a severe stroke?

Opening borders for workers: Abe’s profound influence on Japan’s immigration regime

How skills from hospitality and tourism can propel careers beyond the industry

Research shows managers of firms handling recalls should review media scrutiny before deciding whether to lobby

New model system for the development of potential active substances used in condensate modifying drugs

How to reduce social media stress by leaning in instead of logging off

Pioneering research shows sea life will struggle to survive future global warming

In 10 seconds, an AI model detects cancerous brain tumor often missed during surgery 

Burden of RSV–associated hospitalizations in US adults, October 2016 to September 2023

Repurposing semaglutide and liraglutide for alcohol use disorder

[Press-News.org] Early interventions may improve long-term academic achievement in young childhood brain tumor survivors