Music to the Survivors’ Ears: The Role of Music in Mitigating Neurocognitive Impairments of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Survivors

Abstract

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of childhood cancer and, due to high survival rates, there is an ever-growing population of survivors. Many childhood ALL survivors experience neurocognitive late effects that can affect intelligence, working memory, and processing speed, and which may be linked to chemotherapy received during treatment. Some clinical interventions have been tested in this population, but with minimal success. Music has been suggested as a therapeutic intervention for childhood cancer survivors at large, but not specifically for childhood ALL survivors. A review of the literature suggests that music may provide important benefits in all areas of neurocognitive difficulty for childhood ALL survivors. Therefore, music may be a promising form of intervention for the late effects of childhood ALL survivors, and it is necessary to develop and pilot such an intervention for this population.