Assessing Pulmonary Function in Children and Adolescents After Cancer Treatment: Protocol for a Multicenter Cohort Study (Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study FollowUp–Pulmo)

Abstract

'Maša Žarković' 'Christina Schindera' 'Grit Sommer' 'Christine Schneider' 'Jakob Usemann' 'Maria Otth' 'Sonja Lüer' 'Marc Ansari' 'Philipp Latzin' 'Claudia E Kuehni'] Background Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk of pulmonary dysfunction due to cancer treatments, but evidence on prevalence and risk factors remains limited. Most previous studies had small sample sizes or retrospective study designs, little information about treatments, or a lack of standardization of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) or limited their investigation to certain PFTs. Since spirometry mainly assesses the large airways but cancer therapy also affects peripheral airways, additional functional tests are needed. The nitrogen multiple breath washout test (N2MBW) is sensitive to peripheral airway damage in other patient populations, but its benefit in CCS is unknown. Therefore, comprehensive and standardized evaluation of pulmonary function after cancer treatment in childhood, using different PFTs that include N2MBW, is needed to address these knowledge gaps and provide insights into possible early stages of pulmonary dysfunction. Objective In the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (SCCSS) FollowUp-Pulmo, we will comprehensively assess lung function in children and adolescents after treatment for cancer to identify risk factors for pulmonary dysfunction, assess the ability of N2MBW to detect pulmonary dysfunction compared to other PFTs, and investigate the association of functional outcomes from PFTs with self-reported respiratory symptoms. Methods SCCSS FollowUp-Pulmo is a prospective multicenter longitudinal cohort study embedded in routine clinical care that enrolls CCS aged 6-20 years for whom at least 1 year has passed since a childhood cancer diagnosis, who have completed treatment, and who attend regular pediatric oncological follow-up care. Inclusion criteria comprise any of the following: systemic anticancer treatment (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted agents), thoracic surgery, thoracic radiotherapy, or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).