The Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study - Follow-up (SCCSS-FollowUp)

NCT ID: NCT04732273

Last Updated: 2025-09-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Total Enrollment: 3000 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-06-20
• Study Completion Date: 2071-01-01

Brief Summary

The SCCSS-FollowUp is a national, multicenter cohort study designed to investigate late effects in childhood cancer survivors in a prospective and longitudinal way. The study is embedded in regular follow-up care and inclusion in the study takes place in a step-wise approach. The investigators collect data from clinical examinations, laboratory and functional tests, and questionnaires to learn more about late effects of childhood cancer treatments.

Detailed Description

Background: Survival after childhood cancer has increased substantially over the last decades. In Switzerland, 10-year survival now exceeds 85%. This results in increasing numbers of childhood cancer survivors - estimated 6,600 survivors currently in Switzerland. Due to the cancer treatment or the cancer itself, a large part of the childhood cancer survivors suffer from late effects. As survivors of childhood cancer have decades of life ahead, it is of special interest to minimize potentially avoidable chronic diseases, impaired quality of life, deaths, and health care costs. There is a need to assess clinical data prospectively in a standardized way across clinics to study late effects on a national level. Such data are currently not available in Switzerland and the SCCSS-FollowUp aims to fill this gap.

Objectives: The SCCSS-FollowUp assesses the prevalence of late effects through risk-adapted medical examinations (in accordance with international guidelines and evidence), identifies CCS with asymptomatic late effects through functional testing, e.g. echocardiography or lung function testing, standardizes clinical follow-up examinations in CCS in Switzerland, and collects follow-up data in a longitudinal way. The SCCSS-FollowUp also investigates sociodemographic, treatment, lifestyle, and clinical risk factors for late effect development.

Methods: The SCCSS-FollowUp recruits eligible childhood cancer survivors in a stepwise approach by identifying CCS at risk because of specific treatment modalities (e.g. exposure to anthracyclines or thoracic irradiation). The investigators ask eligible survivors for participation. Those who consent receive before or during the next follow-up visits focused questionnaires. The questionnaires are short and focus on one organ system, but participants can receive different questionnaires at subsequent visits. The data generated during the follow-up visits, such as clinical examination, functional and laboratory test results, and the completed questionnaires are entered in the SCCSS-FollowUp database. The examinations and tests are performed in a standardized way in all participating clinics and according to follow-up guidelines or other evidence-based literature.

Rationale and significance:

The data collected within the SCCSS-FollowUp allow research on late effects on a national level and based on objective clinical data obtained during routine care. The SCCSS-FollowUp helps to learn more about late effects, especially subclinical damage, which are not detectable by questionnaire only. Early detection of these late effects and timely treatment can prevent and mitigate further deterioration. Furthermore, the SCCSS-FollowUp helps to assess risk factors for late effects development which can be used to amend cancer treatment in future patients. The SCCSS-FollowUp thus helps to improve the health of current and future childhood cancer survivors.

Conditions

Late Effect; Childhood Cancer

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Interventions

Physical examination, diagnostic tests, laboratory tests

Physical examination, diagnostic tests depending on examined organ system (e.g. lung function test, echocardiography, audiometry), and laboratory tests (e.g. kidney parameter, hormonal levels).

Intervention Type: OTHER

Personal history, questionnaire

Personal history and focused questionnaires per organ system including symptoms, medication use, physical activity, and general wellbeing.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Registered in the Childhood Cancer Registry (ChCR) or treated and followed-up in a Swiss pediatric oncology (SPOG) clinic, but not registered in the ChCR because of residency in neighboring countries
• Diagnosed at age 0 - 20 years
• Childhood cancer treatment completed
• All age categories at time of inclusion in the study (children, adolescents, adults)
• Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• Childhood cancer survivors in a palliative or relapsed situation where no follow-up examinations are foreseen.

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Bern

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Claudia E Kuehni, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern

Locations

University Childen's Hospital Basel

Basel, , Switzerland

Site Status: RECRUITING

University Children's Hospital Bern

Bern, , Switzerland

Site Status: RECRUITING

University Hospital Geneva

Geneva, , Switzerland

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Switzerland

Central Contacts

Claudia E Kuehni, MD

Role: CONTACT

claudia.kuehni@unibe.ch

+41 31 631 35 07

Maša Žarković, MD

Role: CONTACT

masa.zarkovic@unibe.ch

+41 31 684 68 58

Facility Contacts

Nicolas X von der Weid, MD

Role: primary

Philipp Latzin, MD

Role: primary

Marc Ansari, MD

Role: primary

References

Zarkovic M, Schindera C, Sommer G, Schneider C, Usemann J, Otth M, Luer S, Ansari M, Latzin P, Kuehni CE. Assessing Pulmonary Function in Children and Adolescents After Cancer Treatment: Protocol for a Multicenter Cohort Study (Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study FollowUp-Pulmo). JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Apr 8;14:e69743. doi: 10.2196/69743.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 40198919 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2019-00739

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id