Jennifer Ivanovich: We need their help in promoting the emotional wellbeing of children diagnosed with cancer
Jennifer Ivanovich, Genetic Counselor and Associate Professor of Oncology at
“Please share this link with every person in your network involved in the education of children. We need their help in promoting the emotional wellbeing of children diagnosed with cancer.
In a small study among children with a history of pediatric brain tumors (47 children, average age 10.6 years, 5.3 years average time since treatment), Tamboli and colleagues found 34% of children endorsed fewer than 10 social interactions for a school week and NEARLY HALF OF ALL RESPONDENTS reported NO SOCIAL ACTIVITIES outside of school during a typical week. These disturbing findings call for the need for larger studies to identify the core causes for these limited interactions and to develop targeted interventions to address them.
Until these studies can be conducted, the CAC2community remains committed to engaging diverse stakeholders, around the world, to improve the long-term PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL OUTCOMES for children diagnosed with cancer. Please join our community.
The World Health Organization recently published their Research and development landscape for childhood cancer: a 2023 perspective. The report highlights the significant differences in high- and low-income countries, particularly in regard to accessibility to pediatric cancer clinical trials. These data offer insight where resources may be directed to make clinical trials available and to implement clinical care that matches that of high-income countries.
Children with Cancer UK and Cancer Research UK will support the Stratified Medicine Paediatrics 2 (SMPaeds2) research program with a £5.5 million grant. This research will focus on the molecular tumor profiling for children with relapsed cancer to identify targeted therapies or clinical trial possibilities.
The CDC published a data brief noting the decline in cancer death rates among children in the US, 2001-2021. The cancer death rate was 24% lower in 2021 than 2001, with females experiencing a larger decline than males (30% v. 19%). Adolescents (ages 15-19) continue to have the highest cancer death rates. Considering ethnicity, the death rates for Black and Hispanic children did not decline from 2011 – 2021, with a 12% decline in death rates for White children. Brain tumors were the leading cause of pediatric cancer related death.
Thank you Victoria Buenger for your dedication to keep us informed!”
Source: Jennifer Ivanovich/LinkedIn