Can cardiorespiratory fitness prevent late effects in childhood cancer survivors?

Childhood cancer survivors are at risk of developing late effects (health problems that occur long time after cancer treatment) during decades after completing cancer treatment.

The purpose of this post doc program is to define the association between physical fitness and late effects in childhood cancer survivors, with the aim to improve quality of life for childhood cancer survivors.Thus, this study will define modifiable risk factor and identify targets for future interventions aimed at reducing the risk for second malignant neoplasms and mental disorders.St Jude Children´s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA, is the leading center for research on childhood cancer survivorship.

The St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study is an observational cohort study and includes detailed baseline data on childhood cancer survivors.

At present, the study includes >5,200 participants who have had at least one campus visit for medical screening and fitness testing. Survivors are closely followed to ascertain health status.

The large patient cohort together with ample data provides me with an excellent opportunity to investigate the association between fitness and late effects in childhood cancer survivors.

I will start my postdoc in August 2022 and stay for two years.My clinical experience from work with late effects in childhood cancer survivors and my experience from research on health benefits of physical activity in cancer populations make me well suited for this project.