Endocrine and metabolic late effects in childhood cancer survivors in Germany: the VersKiK study.
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OBJECTIVE: Endocrine and metabolic diseases are known to be common late effects in childhood cancer survivors (CCS). We assessed the prevalence of these diseases in a large German CCS cohort, and a matched comparison population, using health claims data. DESIGN: The cohort study was based on record linkage between the nationwide German Childhood Cancer Registry and claims data from 13 major German statutory health insurances. METHODS: The monitored insurance period covered the years 2017-2021. We assessed the frequencies of endocrine and metabolic diseases among 11 863 five-year CCS, diagnosed 1991-2021, with continuous insurance coverage and a matched comparison group of 35 589 insured persons without a history of childhood cancer. We present prevalence and prevalence ratios (PR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: At least one endocrine or metabolic disease was recorded in 31.3% of survivors (n = 3716) and in 16.4% of the comparison group (n = 5819, PR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.8-2.0). The frequency of diseases was higher among females than among males in both groups. The PR was 2.4 (95% CI: 2.3-2.5) for males and 1.6 (95% CI: 1.5-1.7) for females. The frequency of at least one disease increased with increasing attained age. The disease with the highest frequency among CCS was hypothyroidism (15.85%), and the highest PR was estimated for patients with primary thyroid cancer (43.5; 95% CI: 24.2-78.1). CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the increased vulnerability of CCS to endocrine and metabolic diseases compared to the general population and underscores the need for risk-adapted surveillance during the whole survivorship trajectory.