Predictors of cognitive function in pediatric brain tumor patients: Pre-surgery through 24-month follow-up

Survivors of infant atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors present with severely impaired cognitive functions especially for fluid intelligence and visual processing: data from the German brain tumor studies

“…Other variables such as sex, age at diagnosis, degree of hydrocephalus, and time from diagnosis to testing did not contribute. Thus, we corroborate reports on different outcomes for patients with specific tumor types associated with different treatments 35–37 …”

Computer-Based Cognitive Training in Children with Primary Brain Tumours: A Systematic Review

“…Although children diagnosed with a BT can experience significant cognitive effects years after treatment, there is a need to start therapies closer to the diagnosis. Recent evidence suggests that deficits may emerge soon after or even prior to surgery, indicating the potential importance of delivering interventions as early as possible [ 38 ]. Therefore, early interventions could lead to a lower risk for subsequent cognitive decline and social impairments.…”

Cognitive and Behavioral Outcome of Pediatric Low-Grade Central Nervous System Tumors Treated Only with Surgery: A Single Center Experience

“…Although children with brain tumors are in general described as having global cognitive and adaptive functioning within average ranges [2,3], and high-grade tumors have been associated with worse functional outcomes [4][5][6], the presence of low-grade tumors still represents a risk for developing intellectual, neuropsychological and behavioral disturbances [7]. These may be caused by the neurological disease itself or secondarily by the treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation) [5,8].…”

“…Moreover, children with low-grade tumors might have a longer clinical history before the diagnosis due to the slow-growing nature of the tumors and later onset of symptoms and signs (symptoms related to intracranial Diagnostics 2023, 13, 1568 2 of 17 pressure, seizures, movement and oculomotor disorders) compared to patients with highgrade tumors, and this may increase the rate of pathological findings in neurocognition [9]. To date, some studies have shown that clinical factors influencing the neurocognitive prognosis of children with low-grade tumors encompass types of treatment [8], tumor size and location [4,10,11], the presence of pre-existing neurological disturbances and cancer predisposing syndrome [10,11] and to some extent younger age at diagnosis [12].…”

“…Repeated standardized testing of cognitive, behavioral and adaptive functioning for longitudinal control is recommended to understand the progress of neurocognitive sequelae and is often guaranteed in clinical practice [7], although drop-out risk or incomplete testing often limit data collection for research purposes [4,7]. Moreover, most patients are tested post-treatment, while cognitive and behavioral evaluation after diagnosis, but prior to surgery, is relatively absent, although it is important for establishing neurocognitive baselines and understanding what problems may pre-exist [4].…”