37 EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD MALIGNANCY TREATMENT ON QUALITY OF LIFE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE QOLOP PROJECT Marek BLATNÝ, Tomáš KEPÁK, Irena VLČKOVÁ, Martin JELÍ- NEK, Petra NAVRÁTILOVÁ, Milan PILÁT, Šárka KÁROVÁ, Alena SLEZÁČKOVÁ, Hana HRSTKOVÁ, Jaroslav ŠTĚRBA Scope of the problem Due to remarkable advances in the treatment of cancer in children and adoles- cents about 80% of patients reach long-term remissions today (Ries et al., 2007) as compared with less than 30% of childhood cancer survivors in 1960s. This population of children and young adults who were previously treated for childhood malignancy re- quires specialized care. Enhancing chances of survival of diseases that were previously considered as incurable is one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. Expec- tations of both professional and lay public in the field of pediatric oncology shifted from the focus on quality palliative and symptomatic therapy to anticipation that the child will be cured and live to adult age. Therefore, quality of life comes into focus today. The new paradigm that defines success rate of contemporary oncological treatment of child- hood malignancy is not to achieve only survival, but also balance between anti-cancer activity and toxicity, or late adverse effect of the therapy (Oeffinger, Robinson, 2007). Two thirds of childhood cancer survivors suffer from at least one chronic health problem, approximately half of which are serious or even life-threatening conditions (Geenen et al., 2007, Oeffinger et al., 2006, Mladosievičová, Kaiserová, Foltinová 2007). Only one third of survivors have no health problems. The most common health problems of patients who underwent childhood malignancy treatment are psychosocial and cognitive disorders that affect up to 40% childhood cancer survivors (Geenen et al., 2007). Understanding of these problems and adequate interventions can significantly enhance quality of life of patients. Patients’ awareness about the therapy and its possible long-term risks is usu- ally poor (Oeffinger, Robinson, 2007, Kreitler, Ben Arush, 2004). However, many late effects can occur long after the therapy was finished (even after decades). The aim of