ArticleThe lancet. Healthy longevity2026
Pain and frailty progression in adult survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort study.
Article in The lancet. Healthy longevity, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Opioid limiting law and opioid prescriptions among Medicaid-enrolled survivors of childhood cancer.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of poor lifestyle behaviours in survivors of childhood cancer: a PanCareFollowUp substudy.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAgeing survivors of childhood cancer experience pain that substantially affects daily activities and health. We investigated the contribution of pain to frailty development or progression in survivors.
methodsIn this analysis of the St Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE), adult survivors of childhood cancer treated at a single institution in the USA completed a a baseline assessment including a frailty assessment at cohort entry and a follow-up frailty assessment 4-6 years later. Eligible participants were between ages 18 years and 45 years and were at least 10 years from their childhood cancer diagnosis at cohort entry. Women who were pregnant and participants currently receiving treatment for cancer were not eligible. Criteria for frailty were low lean muscle mass, muscle weakness, poor endurance, slow walking speed, and exhaustion; pre-frailty was defined as meeting two of the criteria, and frailty was defined as meeting three or more. Survivors self-reported pain (bodily pain and headache or migraine pain), pain interference, and health behaviours (including smoking status, alcohol consumption, and sedentary behaviour). Outcomes were analysed in participants who completed clinical assessments at both baseline and follow-up. Multinomial logistic regression examined associations between pain and frailty (odds ratios [ORs] and 95% CIs reported).
findings1261 adult survivors of childhood cancer recruited for SJLIFE between Jan 1, 2008, and June 30, 2013 completed clinical assessments at baseline (mean age 30·7 years [SD 7·0]; mean time since diagnosis 22·7 years [7·4]) and follow-up (mean time from baseline 5·2 years [0·7]). At baseline, 471 (37·4%) participants reported pain, with 194 (15·4%) also reporting pain interference; 294 (23·3%) participants were pre-frail or frail. From baseline to follow-up, 262 (20·8%) survivors had persistent pain, 211 (16·7%) had increasing pain, and 370 (29·3%) had persistent or progressive frailty. After adjusting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, time since diagnosis, BMI, anxiety, depression, and chronic health conditions, pain with interference was associated with pre-frailty (OR 1·85, 95% CI 1·19-2·88) and frailty (5·66, 2·75-11·68) at baseline and with persistent (3·44, 1·88-6·31) and progressed frailty (2·09, 1·25-3·49). Persistent (1·70, 1·11-2·61) and increasing pain (1·69, 1·09-2·61) from baseline to follow-up were associated with progressed frailty. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were associated with frailty across models.
interpretationPain that interferes with daily functioning is associated with frailty and frailty progression in survivors of childhood cancer, underscoring the need for interventions targeting pain and lifestyle factors to mitigate frailty risk and improve long-term health outcomes.
fundingUS National Institutes of Health and American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.