Language Outcomes Following Treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia with CNS Chemotherapy: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study

Abstract

Using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches, the current research investigated the language skills of two boys following CNS-targeted chemotherapy-only treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. A single case-multiple comparison study of each boy's general language skills, as assessed by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition Form A, and the Hundred Pictures Naming Test, and each boy's high level language skills as assessed by the Test of Language Competence-Expanded Edition, and the Test of Problem Solving-Elementary, Revised or the Test of Problem Solving-3 was undertaken. Additionally, using test norms only for comparison, the boys' language skills were assessed three times over a two-year period. The findings suggest that the language skills of both boys were generally within one standard deviation of their respective control group's mean, although one boy was experiencing moderate difficulty with high-level language tasks. Between assessment 2 and 3, the receptive language skills of both boys declined, and competence with high level language tasks declined considerably for one boy and slightly for the other. The results suggest that language skills require monitoring following CNS chemotherapy.