Cancer and Anorexia Nervosa in the Adolescence: A Family-Based Systemic Intervention

Table 1

Synopsis of reported cases of anorexia nervosa associated to cancer.

Author [ref.]	Age/sex	Tumor type	Time frame from diagnoses of cancer and anorexia	Anticancer treatment(s)	Status of cancer at the diagnosis of anorexia	Treatment strategy for anorexia	Clinical outcomes
Szajnberg et al. [12]	8/F	Acute lymphoblastic leukemia	Cancer diagnosed eight weeks before anorexia	Chemotherapy	Clinical remission	Cognitive behavior techniques	Tumor: isolated CNS relapse 15 months after remission; Anorexia: resolved; no recurrence at leukemia relapse
O’Brien et al. [13]	13/F	Meningioma	Anorexia diagnosed six weeks before cancer	Surgery	Clinically silent	Psychotherapy and parental counseling	Tumor: 2-year continuous remission; Anorexia: resolved; no recurrence at 2 years
Frankel and Halmi [14]	16/M	Gastrointestinal stromal tumor	Anorexia diagnosed 2 years before cancer	Surgery and imatinib mesylate therapy	Probably clinically silent at start of anorectic convictions	Cognitive behavior techniques	Tumor: recurrence at 3 years after resection of primary tumor; Anorexia: recurring; pattern during cancer; treatment and; recurrences; resolved; once tumor was in; long-lasting control
De Benedetta et al. [present report]	15/F	Osteosarcoma	Cancer diagnosed nine weeks before anorexia	Chemotherapy and surgery	Clinical remission	Family-based systemic psychotherapy	Tumor: 4-year continuous remission; Anorexia: resolved; no recurrence at 2 years