The role of exercise in the diagnosis and treatment of long-term and late effects of childhood cancer

Childhood leukaemia and brain cancer survivors are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease due to long-term and late consequences resulting from malignancy and treatment. Current long-term surveillance measures may miss early stages of adverse health and there is no consensus on the best intervention once risk-factors become evident. We investigated whether the use of contemporary imaging techniques and supervised exercise could improve screening and health outcomes in these populations. The utilised methods detected latent cardiac injury in childhood leukaemia survivors. Additionally, we found that exercise was feasible and beneficial for ameliorating poor health in survivors of childhood brain cancer.