About this study
Medulloblastoma is a brain tumor that mostly affects children. Treatments have improved over time, and most patients survive. But the combined effects of surgery, radiation therapy to the brain and spine, and chemotherapy can cause long-term health problems such as:
- Trouble with thinking and memory
- Hearing loss
- Hormone changes
- Heart and lung problems
- Bone growth problems
- Infertility
This study is needed to learn more about these long-term effects, especially for patients who received newer types of radiation therapy like proton therapy.
Researchers want to understand how different types of radiation treatments affect health years after therapy. Some patients had traditional radiation. Others had proton radiation, which may reduce harm to healthy tissue. We do not yet know if proton radiation lowers the risk of health problems that develop months or years after treatment is over. Learning more about this will help doctors improve care and follow-up for future patients.
People in this study will complete health checks during a visit to St. Jude. These checks include brain and spine imaging, memory and thinking tests, blood work, heart and lung tests, and bone scans. There will also be surveys about quality of life, sleep, and family support. Some people will have extra brain scans to study how their overall treatment affects brain activity. These tests will help researchers find patterns between treatment type and long-term health.
We need to learn which health problems happen most often after different radiation treatments and why they occur. The information collected in this study will help doctors understand which problems are most common and how to prevent or treat them. This knowledge will guide better treatment plans and follow-up care for children with brain tumors in the future.