ABSTRACT
Since its foundation in 1991, the SIOP Working Committee on Psychosocial Issues in Paediatric Oncology1 has developed and published 12 sets of Guidelines for health-care professionals treating children with cancer and their families. Those elements considered essential in the process of cure and care of children with cancer are summarized in this document as a formal statement, developed at the 2007 SIOP annual meeting in Mumbai. Elaboration of the concepts with detailed strategies for practice can be found in the referenced guidelines [1-12] and in a companion publication [13]. This article is a summary of what practitioners considered critical elements in the optimal care of the child with cancer, with the goal of stimulating a broader application of these elements throughout the SIOP membership.
Subject(s)
Child Care , Neoplasms/psychology , Neoplasms/therapy , Patient Care Team , Child , HumansABSTRACT
Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare, aggressive dysontogenetic tumor of childhood. We report the comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) study performed on a case of PPB in a 3-year-old-boy. The tumor was characterized by several chromosomal imbalances. Gains observed affected regions: 1q12-q23, 3q23-qter, 8pter-q24.1, 9p13-q21, 17p12-p11, 17q11-q22, 17q23-q25, 19pter-p11, and 19q11-q13.3. Whole chromosome gains were detected at 2 and 7. Loss of genetic material was found at regions: 6q13-qter, 10pter-p13, 10q22-qter, and 20p13. To our knowledge, there have been no CGH reports on PPB, but it is interesting to note that 1) the alterations found confirm previous cytogenetic reports describing gains of chromosomes 2 and 8 as recurrent abnormalities in this type of tumor, suggesting that a gene or genes of putative relevance in PPB pathogenesis are mapped at 8p11-p12, and 2) the CGH profile of this case is very similar to those observed in embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas, in which gains of 2 or 2q, 7 or 7q, and 8 or 8p and loss of 10q22-qter are consistently found. This finding supports the hypothesis that PPB may be tumorigenetically related with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.
Subject(s)
Chromosome Aberrations , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Pleural Neoplasms/genetics , Pulmonary Blastoma/genetics , Child, Preschool , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8/genetics , DNA, Neoplasm/genetics , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence , Karyotyping , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Male , Nucleic Acid Hybridization , Pleural Neoplasms/diagnosis , Pulmonary Blastoma/diagnosisABSTRACT
This is the 11th official document of the SIOP Working Committee on Psychosocial Issues in Pediatric Oncology, instituted in 1991. There is a tendency for some physicians to make blanket statements against the use of non-proven, non-conventional therapies, even when these therapies are not harmful. There is an equal and opposite tendency on the part of many parents to do all that they possibly can for their children, including using any non-conventional therapy they feel might do some good. The health care team must open a healthy dialogue with parents that will lead to a clear distinction between those complementary therapies that are harmful and those that are not, indeed, might even be helpful psychologically if not therapeutically.
Subject(s)
Complementary Therapies/statistics & numerical data , Medical Oncology , Neoplasms/psychology , Neoplasms/therapy , Child , Humans , Parents/psychology , Patient Care Team , Pediatrics , Physicians , Social SupportABSTRACT
This is the tenth official document of the SIOP Working Committee on psychosocial issues in pediatric oncology, instituted in 1991. It is addressed to the pediatric oncology community. Children clearly have a right to participate in medical decisions regarding their own treatment, based on the developmental level of the child. The objective of these guidelines is to encourage physicians to share with the child developmentally relevant medical information specific to that particular child's health status, in the context of the child's own culture, so that he or she can actively participate in the decision-making process regarding his or her own health. These guidelines, geared toward this objective, discuss the child's right to medical information, the parents' legal responsibility for but not exclusive right over the child's health, and ways of encouraging the younger child's active participation in his or her own health care at an age-appropriate level of understanding. For adolescents, there should be a full and legally mandated power to make their own decisions regarding medical treatment.
