Neuropsychological function in childhood cancer patients and adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Population-based incidence rates of childhood and adolescent cancers have increased over the past several decades, and the overall survival rate for childhood cancer exceeds 85% due to advances in treatment. There is a substantial burden of late effects in this growing and youthful survivorship population. In particular, neuropsychological late effects are common and life-altering sequelae of childhood cancer that adversely impact educational attainment, vocational attainment, and social integration. In this review article, we summarize the extant literature to describe neuropsychological late effects in survivors of childhood cancer, including underlying brain mechanisms and contributing individual, clinical, and socioenvironmental risk factors. We review existing guidelines for survivorship care and strategies for implementation of these guidelines via neuropsychological screening that are informed by developmental considerations. We end by identifying future directions for the field.