Assorted news from the last two weeks: NCI commissioned the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Technical Brief to support the development of a research agenda associated with the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act. This Technical Brief provides an overview of the existing evidence and forthcoming research relevant to disparities and barriers for pediatric cancer survivorship care, outlines open questions, and offers concrete guidance for future research in a user-friendly format. Survivorship Care Plans are infrequently provided and not uniformly implemented, even among high-risk patients. We could do better. New quarterly publication from Late Effects Surveillance [...] Read more

Assorted news from the last week: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued guidelines for the management of children with Wilms Tumor, or nephroblastoma. Can children get breast cancer? The Global COVID-19 Observatory and Resource Center for Childhood Cancer was developed, launched, and maintained by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The three components (Resource Library, Global Registry, and Collaboration Space) complement each other, establishing a mechanism to generate and transfer knowledge rapidly throughout the community. Upcoming Webinars and Online Opportunities: ASK Foundation is hosting a FREE virtual conference on March 5th for […]

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Assorted news from the last week: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed graphics that provide a visualization of recommendations about the use of dental amalgam (a mercury-containing dental restorative or filling material) in certain groups of people who may be at greater risk for potential harmful health effects of mercury exposure. Celebration!  The Most Cited Paper Award presented by Journal of Pediatric Psychology focused on adolescent and young-adult survivors:  Knowledge of Late Effects Risks and Healthcare Responsibility in Adolescents and Young Adults Treated for Childhood Cancer. Today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, investigators at Children’s […]

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Assorted news from the last week: In celebration of International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day on February 15, the World Health Organization released a suite of tools to help countries improve diagnosis and treatment of cancer among children. The package includes a “how-to” guide for policy-makers, cancer control programme managers and hospital managers; an assessment tool to inform implementation; and a multilingual online portal for information-sharing. Currently, categorizing clinical trials as ‘negative’ is based solely on the main outcome of the trial without taking into account whether there are other outcomes that could be positive for patients or other reasons for this […]

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Assorted news from the last week: The largest single cell study to date of the childhood cancer, neuroblastoma, has answered important questions about the genesis of the disease. The researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, discovered that all neuroblastomas arise from a single type of embryonic cell called sympathoblasts. Health experts say the fear of COVID-19 in the past year has forced people to delay treatment of children undergoing cancer and anti-cancer therapies.  More here. The landscape for pediatric oncology drugs expanded dramatically last year, with 8 […]

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Assorted news from the last week: Jared Isaacman, 37-year-old founder of Shift4 Payments, is chartering a SpaceX trip to orbit and raffling a seat to a random winner to raise money for childhood cancer research. World Health Organization issued new guidelines on the management of chronic pain in children provide recommended physical, psychological and pharmacological interventions for pain relief in children aged 0-19 years. Telling a child they have cancer and explaining what that means is one of the most difficult conversations you can have with your child. Alice Ann Holland, Ph.D., ABPP, a board-certified Clinical Neuropsychologist and the Research […]

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Assorted news from the last week: Sadly, as the 2020 Childhood Cancer Prevention Report confirms, childhood cancer incidence rates, the number of new cases per 1,000 children, have steadily increased over the last few decades across all racial/ethnic groups. Cancer is now responsible for more than half of all childhood and teenage deaths, making this study all the more urgent. The Houston Chronicle reports: “Another cancer cluster in Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens has been identified by a state investigation in a newly released report, which found that children contracted leukemia at nearly five times the expected rate of the […]

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Assorted news from the last two weeks: FDA approval of Pfizer’s XALKORI® (crizotinib) is a major milestone in the treatment of children and young adults with ALK-positive Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Researchers at Uppsala University have investigated the socioeconomic impact on parents of having a child diagnosed with cancer:  mothers’ incomes fall in the short term and then rise, the adverse financial repercussions on fathers occur later. As the FDA and others take stock of the lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic, we should consider elevating the needs of children and embracing approaches that are faster, more innovative, and more […]

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