Long-term brain structural magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive functioning in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with high-dose methotrexate chemotherapy alone or combined with CNS radiotherapy at reduced total dose to 12 Gy

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the long-term side effects of central nervous system prophylaxis (high-dose chemotherapy alone vs chemotherapy and CNS radiotherapy) according to the ALL IC-BFM 2002. Methods: Thirty-tree children aged 6.7–19.9 years have been studied. The control group consisted of 12 children newly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We assessed subcortical gray matter volume using automatic MRI segmentation and cognitive performance to identify differences between two therapeutic schemes and patients prior to treatment. Results: Patients treated with chemotherapy and CNS radiotherapy had smaller hippocampi than two other subgroups and lower IQ score than patients treated with chemotherapy alone. Both treated groups, whether with chemotherapy only or in combination with CNS radiotherapy, had significantly lower volumes of caudate nucleus and performed significantly worse on measures of verbal fluency in comparison with patients prior to treatment. There were no differences in the mean volumes of total white matter, total gray matter, thalamus, putamen, and amygdala between the studied groups. Conclusion: In all children treated according to the ALL IC-BFM 2002 with high-dose chemotherapy, both decreased volume of selected subcortical structures and cognitive impairment was observed, especially in children who received chemotherapy in combination with reduced dose CNS radiotherapy. In all children treated according to the ALL IC-BFM 2002 with high-dose chemotherapy, both decreased volume of selected subcortical structures and cognitive impairment were observed, especially in children who received chemotherapy in combination with CNS radiotherapy.