Sex Differences, Academic Outcomes, and the Impact of Cranial Radiation in Pediatric Medulloblastoma

Introduction Treatment for brain tumors in children has been associated with difficulties in neurocognitive functioning. The present study examined the differences in academic outcomes for male and female medulloblastoma survivors who were treated with and without cranial radiation. Methods Data from 39 medulloblastoma survivors were collected retrospectively. Patients included in the study were clinically referred for a neuropsychological evaluation. One-way ANOVAs were used to examine differences in academic outcomes for male and female patients as well as patients who received and did not receive radiation as part of their treatment. Results Analyses indicated significant differences across male and female medulloblastoma survivors for sight word reading, phonological decoding, and mathematical calculation. Significant differences were not observed for patients who did and did not receive cranial radiation. Discussion Similar to findings examining differences in intellectual outcomes for brain tumor survivors, males performed lower than females approximately 4 years post-treatment. This suggests that males may be particularly vulnerable to neurocognitive difficulties following treatment for medulloblastoma and earlier monitoring and assessment may be warranted. Sex differences in brain development may be related to academic outcomes for pediatric brain tumor patients. Additional research is needed in the area.