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Dialogues

Apr 28, 2024, 18:01

Oncothon: Pediatric oncology in LMICs

Oncothon is a global telethon spanning 24 hours, dedicated to gathering donations for childhood cancer research. Dr. Federico Antillon is co-chair of Global Health Network of SIOP. He will introduce his work on global scale for improving pediatric oncology field in LMICs.

Speakers

Dr. Federico Antillon serves as the Medical Director National Pediatric Oncology Unit and holds the position of Secretary at the School of Medicine at Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala. Additionally, he acts as the Fellowship Director for the Joint Program at the National Pediatric Oncology Unit and the School of Medicine, Medicine at Francisco Marroquin. Dr. Antillon is also a founding member of Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir, a pivotal organization in advancing pediatric cancer treatment in Guatemala. He has been honored with the SIOP Award for Pediatric Oncology in developing nations during the Annual Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology.

Moderator

Gevorg Tamamyan is the Editor-in-chief of OncoDaily, Head of the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, Chairman and Professor of the Department of Hematology and Pediatric Oncology at Yerevan State Medical University, CEO of the Immune Oncology Research Institute, President-Elect of the Pediatric Oncology East and Mediterranean (POEM) Group. He is also the Adviser to the Rector of YSMU and the Director of the Yeolyan Hematology and Oncology Center. He is a Co-Founder and Board Member of the Armenian Association of Hematology and Oncology, City of Smile Charitable Foundation, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Institute of Cancer and Crisis, and the Former President of the Harvard Club of Armenia.

Dr. Tamamyan is the past chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) IDEA Steering Group and International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) PODC Supportive Care WG, Ambassador of the Society of Hematologic Oncology. He was selected for the ASCO Leadership Development Program and currently is a member of the ASCO International Committee. He is a recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, among them the ASCO IDEA and LIFe Awards, 40 under 40 in Cancer Award, he was recognized as a Young Leader of the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

For more detailed information about Dr. Tamamyan, you can visit the Immune Oncology Research Institute’s website.

Follow the transcript bellow

Gevorg Tamamyan: I’d like to give the floor to doctor Federico Guzman, the co-chair of Global Health Network of Hope ,and please, can you share, what work you are doing on a global scale and you are advancing the LMICs, pediatric oncology for many years already.

Federico Antillon: Good day to all. It’s really an honor to be here at the UN today to provide a brief summary of the history of childhood and adolescent cancer treatment in Guatemala.

In the 1990s, Guatemala did not have a hospital dedicated to treating cancer in children and adolescents. The survival rate at that time was less than 28% at three years from diagnosis, and the abandonment rate of treatment was 60%. Public hospitals could only diagnose around 100 children with cancer.

With the help of a foundation in Guatemala, the Ministry of Health, several private companies in Guatemala, and the international outreach program (now global), what was then known as Saint Jude, we opened the Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica in April of 2000.

Since then, we have been diagnosing more than 500 children and adolescents with cancer who are under 18 years old. Treatment is provided free of charge to all families, and we have managed to decrease the abandonment rate of treatment to less than 2%. We have also increased the survival rate of children to close to 67%, which is one of our main successes.

In 2003, we opened a pediatric hematology oncology fellowship for the Central American region. Since then, we have graduated around 42 pediatric hematologists and oncologists, primarily for Central America but also from some South American countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia. This has allowed us to double the number of pediatric oncologists in the region and the number of children being treated in Central America.

Recently, we are pleased to announce that our fellowship has been accredited by the ACGME International chapter. This makes us the first pediatric hematology oncology fellowship to be accredited by the ACGME. This is a summary of the beautiful journey we embarked upon nearly 25 years ago. Thank you very much for listening.

Gevorg Tamamyan: Thank you so much and congratulations the accreditation. It’s really an amazing achievement and, I’m sure this could be a role model for many other countries.