What is the study about?
The SCCSS is a national questionnaire study aimed at childhood cancer survivors. In Switzerland, most children and adolescents with cancer can be cured. However, treatment can be very intensive and arduous. With this study, we want to find out how people who had cancer in their childhood and adolescence are doing and whether they have problems with their health or in other important areas of their lives. We also want to investigate which cancer treatments are associated with such limitations.
The study aims to improve the treatment, aftercare and quality of life of people with childhood cancer. In future, doctors should be able to adapt treatment even better to the needs of these people so that they are as healthy as possible in later life and have a good quality of life.
Who is included in the study?
We include all people who had cancer before their 20th birthday, who had cancer at least 5 years ago and who live in Switzerland.
What data is collected?
We will send a questionnaire about health and quality of life to all eligible persons via postal service. The answers from the completed questionnaires are transferred to our database and are then analysed by our team.
Further data for our research comes from
- the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry,
- information from medical records of medical practices or hospitals,
- routine statistics from federal institutions, and
- biobanks.
At regular intervals, we send everyone another questionnaire so that we can examine whether anything has changed in their health or quality of life over time.
How long does the study last?
The SCCSS is an ongoing research project. It constantly includes new survivors and accompanies them throughout their lives.
What happens with the results?
We regularly analyse the data from the study and publish our research findings in academic journals. You can find our publications here. We also briefly summarize most of our findings and make them available to you on our website on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, we report on current research findings at conferences.