Although huge progress has been made in improving the outcomes of pediatric or childhood cancers in Europe, patients and survivors are still facing huge challenges that have to be addressed, says a new report.
The European Society for Pediatric Oncology (SIOPE) presented a report in the ongoing European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria. The strategic plan is designed to enhance the quality of life of survivors and cure rate of pediatric cancer patients within the next decade.
In Europe, the cancer cure rate is about 80% and cancers affecting children are considered rare. However, more than 5,500 of them still die from the disease.
Further, according to the report, by 2020, around 250,000 of these children will continue to experience the side effects of their treatments that can be significant enough they can reduce the quality of life. Children who have been diagnosed with pediatric cancers also have a higher mortality risk than the general population even after they have gone past the 5-year survival period.
SIOPE's president Gilles Vassal, who also works as a professor of Institut Gustave Roussy in France, confirms pediatric cancer remains to be a serious problem affecting not only the patients but also their families and even the health services.
Other problems that the report cited included the lack of funding and attention from the governments that seem to think that because of the high cure rate, more focus should be provided to adult oncology. Moreover, although new drugs for patients are available, patients don't have sufficient access to them. There's also the disparity of treatment, which impacts the rate of survival of patients.
The strategic plan then recommends key steps to address these challenges, such as financing commitment for projects that support pediatric oncology, enhanced collaboration with cancer patients and their families, and transparent partnerships with industry. It also suggests a "survivorship passport" for all survivors. With the goal of improving quality of life, it shall contain their disease and treatment history for easy follow-up as well as a database for research.
The plan was created after intensive consultations with relevant parties such as patients, survivors, and their families. It is also part of the European Network for Cancer Research in Children and Adolescents (ENCCA) project.