Children given radiation to cure their cancers end up worse off than those who had only surgery. Chemotherapy did not seem to worsen their post cancer health.

The report, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, adds to research showing that, while childhood cancer is usually curable, its effects can linger for decades and even a lifetime.

"We've been very focused on curing brain cancer, which we now do in about 68 percent of the kids," said pediatric neurologist Dr. Paul Fisher of Stanford University School of Medicine in California and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, who led the study.

"Now we're asking, 'OK, but what are the kids like? We're curing them, but at what cost?"'

Fisher and colleagues surveyed 134 former patients returning to Packard Children's Hospital for routine follow-up visits.