Impact of the Children's Oncology Group's supportive care clinical practice guideline endorsement program: An institutional survey.

BACKGROUND: Supportive care clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) facilitate the incorporation of the best available evidence into pediatric cancer care. We aimed to assess the impact of the work of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Supportive Care Guideline Task Force on institutional supportive care practices. PROCEDURE: An online survey was distributed to representatives at 209 COG sites to assess the awareness, use, and helpfulness of COG-endorsed supportive care CPGs. Availability of institutional policies regarding 13 topics addressed by current COG-endorsed CPGs was also assessed. Respondents described their institutional processes for developing supportive care policies. RESULTS: Representatives from 92 COG sites responded to the survey, and 78% (72/92) were "very aware" of the COG-endorsed supportive care CPGs. On average, sites had policies that addressed seven COG-endorsed supportive care CPG topics (median = 7, range: 0-12). Only 45% (41/92) of sites reported having institutional processes for developing supportive care policies. Of these, most (76%, 31/41) reported that the COG-endorsed CPGs have a medium or large impact on policy development. Compared with sites without processes for supportive care policy development, sites with established processes had policies on a greater number of topics aligned with current COG-endorsed CPG topics (mean = 6.6, range: 0-12 vs mean = 7.9, range: 2-12; p = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: Most site respondents were aware of the COG-endorsed supportive care CPGs. Less than half of the COG sites represented in the survey have processes in place to implement supportive care policies. Improvement in local implementation is required to ensure that patients at COG sites receive evidence-based supportive care.

Survivorship after adolescent and young adult cancer: Models of care, disparities, and opportunities.

Survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA, age 15-39 years at diagnosis) cancer are a growing population with the potential to live for many decades after treatment completion. Survivors of AYA cancer are at risk for adverse long-term outcomes including chronic conditions, secondary cancers, impaired fertility, poor psychosocial health and health behaviors, and financial toxicity. Further, survivors of AYA cancer from racially minoritized and low socio-economic status populations experience disparities in these outcomes, including lower long-term survival. Despite these known risks, most survivors of AYA cancer do not receive routine survivorship follow-up care, and research on delivering high-quality, evidence-based survivorship care to these patients is lacking. The need for survivorship care was initially advanced in 2006 by the Institute of Medicine. In 2019, the Quality of Cancer Survivorship Care Framework (QCSCF) was developed to provide an evidence-based framework to define key components of optimal survivorship care. In this commentary focused on survivors of AYA cancer, we apply the QCSCF framework to describe models of care that can be adapted for their unique needs, multi-level factors limiting equitable access to care, and opportunities to address these factors to improve short- and long-term outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Clinical trial recruitment of people who speak languages other than english: a children's oncology group report.

BACKGROUND: Persons who speak languages other than English (LOE) are underrepresented in clinical trials; this may be due in part to inadequate multilevel resources. We conducted a survey of institutions affiliated with the Children's Oncology Group (COG) to characterize current research recruitment practices and resources regarding translation and interpretation services. METHODS: In October 2022, a 20-item survey was distributed electronically to institutions affiliated with COG to assess consent practices and resources for recruiting participants who speak LOE to COG trials. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize responses; responses were compared by institution size, type, and respondent role. RESULTS: The survey was sent to a total of 230 institutions, and the response rate was 60% (n = 139). In total, 60% (n = 83) had access to short form consents. Full consent form translation was required at 50% of institutions, and 12% of Institutional Review Boards restricted use of centrally translated consent forms. Forty-six percent of institutions reported insufficient funding to support translation costs; 15% had access to no-cost translation services. Forty-four percent (n = 61) were required to use in-person interpreters for consent discussions; the most cited barrier to obtaining consent was lack of available in-person interpreters (56%). Forty-six percent (n = 69) reported that recruiting persons who speak LOE to clinical trials was somewhat or very difficult. CONCLUSIONS: Institutions affiliated with COG face resource-specific challenges that impede recruitment of participants who speak LOE in clinical trials. These findings indicate an urgent need to identify strategies aimed at reducing recruitment barriers to ensure equitable access to clinical trials.

Clinical Practice Guideline-Inconsistent Management of Fertility Preservation in Pediatric Cancer Patients in Community Settings: A Children's Oncology Group Study.

Background: The primary objective was to measure adherence to clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations for fertility preservation (FP) in pediatric cancer patients treated in National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) sites. Secondary objectives were to describe factors such as site size associated with CPG-inconsistent care delivery and cryopreservation completion. Methods: This retrospective, multicenter study included patients 15 to 21 years old with a first cancer diagnosis from January 2014 through December 2015 who were previously enrolled to a Children's Oncology Group (COG) study and received care at a participating NCORP site. Patients were randomly selected from a list generated by the COG for chart review by participating sites. Primary outcome was care delivery that was inconsistent with a strong CPG recommendation on FP, namely discussion and offering of FP options before cancer treatment initiation, as adjudicated centrally by a panel. Results: A total of 129 patients from 25 sites were included. Among these, 48% (62/129) received CPG-inconsistent care. Most CPG-inconsistent care was due to lack of FP discussion documentation (93.5%, 58/62). Small site size, treatment at a pediatric (vs mixed adult/pediatric) site, and female sex were associated with higher odds of CPG-inconsistent care delivery. Conclusions: Newly diagnosed pediatric cancer patients often received CPG-inconsistent care for FP, with disproportionate gaps noted for females, and those treated at smaller or pediatric NCORP sites. The primary reason for CPG-inconsistent care is lack of FP discussion from clinicians. Opportunities to improve FP CPG implementation are highlighted.

Toward identification and intervention to address financial toxicity and unmet health-related social needs among adolescents and emerging adults with cancer and their caregivers: A cross-cultural perspective.

PURPOSE: We qualitatively explored the unique needs and preferences for financial toxicity screening and interventions to address financial toxicity among adolescents and emerging adults (younger AYAs: 15-25 years) with cancer and their caregivers. METHODS: We recruited English- or Spanish-speaking younger AYAs who were treated for cancer within the past 2 years and their caregivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore preferences for screening and interventional study development to address financial toxicity. The data were coded using conventional content analysis. Codes were reviewed with the study team, and interviews continued until saturation was reached; codes were consolidated into categories and themes during consensus discussions. RESULTS: We interviewed 17 participants; nine were younger AYAs. Seven of the 17 preferred to speak Spanish. We identified three cross-cutting themes: burden, support, and routine, consistent, and clear. The burden came in the form of unexpected costs such as transportation to appointments, as well as emotional burdens such as AYAs worrying about how much their family sacrificed for their care or caregivers worrying about the AYA's physical and financial future. Support, in the form of familial, community, healthcare institution, and insurance, was critical to mitigating the effects of financial toxicity in this population. Participants emphasized the importance of meeting individual financial needs by routinely and consistently asking about financial factors and providing clear guidance to navigate these needs. CONCLUSION: Younger AYAs and their caregivers experience significant financial challenges and unmet health-related social needs during cancer treatment and often rely on key supports to alleviate these unmet needs. When developing interventions to mitigate financial toxicity, clinicians and health systems should prioritize clear, consistent, and tailorable approaches to support younger AYA cancer survivors and their families.

Guideline for the management of Clostridioides difficile infection in pediatric patients with cancer and hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients: 2024 update.

Our objective was to update a clinical practice guideline for the prevention and treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in pediatric patients with cancer and hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients. We reconvened an international multi-disciplinary panel. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the prevention or treatment of CDI in any population was updated and identified 31 new RCTs. Strong recommendations were made to use either oral metronidazole or oral vancomycin for non-severe CDI treatment, and to use either oral vancomycin or oral fidaxomicin for severe CDI. A strong recommendation that fecal microbiota transplantation should not be routinely used to treat CDI was also made. The panel made two new good practice statements to follow infection control practices including isolation in patients experiencing CDI, and to minimize systemic antibacterial administration where feasible, especially in patients who have experienced CDI.

Defining Practice Capacity for Cancer Care Delivery to Adolescents and Young Adults in the Community Setting: 2022 Landscape Assessment Results.

Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) commonly receive cancer care in the community setting, but the availability of treatment options, resources, and support services for this population is not well known. The National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) funds a network of practices whose mission is to increase access to cancer care and clinical trials in the community setting. We describe our interdisciplinary methodological approach to identify and characterize NCORP practices where AYAs receive cancer care. Methods: NCORP practices completed a cross-sectional Landscape Assessment to describe resources and practice characteristics. We established an interdisciplinary team of stakeholders to analyze the Landscape Assessment data relating to AYAs. Through an iterative process, we assessed NCORP practice responses to questions assessing AYA cancer care capacity, determined a threshold to define practices treating AYAs, and characterized these practices. Results: We determined that practices provide cancer care to AYAs if the following criteria were met: (1) endorsed having an AYA program (n = 20), (2) AYAs comprised ≥5% of annual cancer cases (n = 55), or (3) the practice treated ≥50 AYA cancer cases annually (n = 70). Of 271 NCORP practices, 100 (37%) met any criteria, whereas 87 (32%) did not; 84 (31%) could not be classified due to missing or unknown data. Conclusion: Using an interdisciplinary process, we define practices that treat AYAs in the community. We posit a uniform approach to examine resources and practice capacity for AYAs receiving cancer care across the United States to guide future AYA-focused cancer care delivery research development.

Characteristics of Health Care Settings Where Adolescents and Young Adults Receive Care for ALL.

PURPOSE: Individuals diagnosed with cancer between 15 and 39 years (adolescent and young adult [AYA]) face unique vulnerability. Detail is lacking about care delivery for these patients, especially those with ALL. We address these knowledge gaps by describing AYA ALL care delivery details at National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) (sub)affiliates by model of care. METHODS: Participating institutions treated at least one AYA with ALL from 2012 to 2016. Study-specific criteria were used to determine the number of unique clinical facilities (CFs) per NCORP and their model of care (adult/internal medicine [IM], pediatric, mixed [both]). Surveys completed by NCORPs for each CF by model of care captured size, resources, services, and communication. RESULTS: Among 84 participating CFs (adult/IM, n=47; pediatric, n=15; mixed, n=24), 34% treated 5-10 AYAs with ALL annually; adult/IM CFs more often treated <5 (adult/IM, 60%; pediatric, 40%; mixed, 29%). Referral decisions were commonly driven by an age/diagnosis combination (58%), with frequent ALL-specific age minimums (87%) or maximums (80%). Medical, navigational, and social work services were similar across models while psychology was available at more pediatric CFs (pediatric, 80%; adult/IM, 40%; mixed, 46%-54%). More pediatric or mixed CFs reported oncologists interacting with pediatric/adult counterparts via tumor boards (pediatric, 93%; adult/IM, 26%; mixed, 96%) or initiating contact (pediatric, 100%; adult/IM, 77%; mixed 96%); more pediatric CFs reported an affiliated counterpart (pediatric, 53%; adult, 19%). Most CFs reported no AYA-specific resources (79%) or meetings (83%-98%). CONCLUSION: System-level aspects of AYA ALL care delivery have not been examined previously. At NCORPs, these characteristics differ by models of care. Additional work is ongoing to investigate the impact of these facility-level factors on guideline-concordant care in this population. Together, these findings can inform a system-level intervention for diverse practice settings.

Pediatric oncology provider perspectives and patient/family perceptions of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting management: Experiences at an academic medical center.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is common in children undergoing cancer treatment, and significantly impacts quality of life. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed to guide CINV management, though many patients do not receive guideline-concordant care. Few studies have examined provider perspectives on CINV management or preferred improvement approaches, or pediatric patient perception of CINV control. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of pediatric oncology providers was conducted at a large freestanding children's hospital. Providers completed an anonymous online survey about CINV control in patients admitted for scheduled chemotherapy, and their knowledge and utilization of CINV CPGs. A survey of English and Spanish-speaking pediatric oncology patients admitted for scheduled chemotherapy was conducted to assess CINV management, with key demographics used to understand association with perceptions and adherence to antiemetic guidelines. RESULTS: For providers, 75% of respondents felt CINV management could be moderately or extremely improved, significantly more so by chemotherapy prescribers and pediatric medical residents than nurses. Over half of respondents did not have awareness of CINV CPGs, particularly pediatric medical residents. For patients, nausea was reported to be extremely well controlled in 44% of cases, and vomiting extremely well controlled in 50% of cases. There were no significant differences in patient-reported CINV across demographics, when considering emetogenicity of chemotherapy received, or concordance to guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing education in this area may help to improve provider comfort, and ultimately, the patient experience. Future studies will expand upon this novel patient perception, and develop and evaluate CINV management interventions.

Association Between Copayment Assistance, Insurance Type, Prior Authorization, and Time to Receipt of Oral Anticancer Drugs.

PURPOSE: Oral anticancer drugs (OACDs) have become increasingly prevalent over the past decade. OACD prescriptions require coordination between payers and providers, which can delay drug receipt. We examined the association between insurance type, pursuit of copayment assistance, pursuit of prior authorization (PA), and time to receipt (TTR) for new OACD prescriptions. METHODS: We prospectively collected data on new OACD prescriptions for adult oncology patients from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, including demographic and clinical characteristics, insurance type, and pursuit of PA and copayment assistance. TTR was defined as the number of days from prescription to OACD receipt. We summarized TTR using cumulative incidence and compared TTR by insurance type, pursuit of copayment assistance, and PA activity using the log-rank test. RESULTS: Our cohort of 1,024 patients was 53% male, and 40% were younger than 65. Twenty-six percent had commercial insurance only, 16% had Medicaid only, and 59% had Medicare with or without additional insurance. Eighty-six percent of prescriptions were successfully received. Across all prescriptions, 69% involved PA activity, and 21% involved the copayment assistance process. In unadjusted analyses, prescriptions involving the copayment assistance process had longer TTR compared with those not involving assistance (log-rank P value = .005) and OACDs covered by Medicare/commercial insurance had a longer TTR compared with Medicaid (log-rank P value = .006). The PA process was not associated with TTR (log-rank P value = .124). CONCLUSION: The process for obtaining OACDs is complex. The copayment assistance process and Medicare/commercial insurance are associated with delayed TTR. New policies are needed to reduce time to OACD receipt.

A Brief Screening Tool for Assessment of Financial Toxicity.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the utility of brief financial screening items to facilitate the implementation of routine financial toxicity screening. SAMPLE & SETTING: 50 women with breast cancer completed a one-time survey that included the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST): A FACIT Measure of Financial Toxicity, a visual analog scale, and a brief sociodemographic questionnaire. METHODS & VARIABLES: Survey responses were examined to assess the psychometric properties of individual COST items and the visual analog scale by calculating Cronbach's alpha and Pearson's correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The mean COST was 21.4, and 27 respondents met criteria for financial toxicity (a COST lower than 22). As expected, all items correlated strongly to the overall COST, but four items (items 3, 6, 8, and 10) performed strongest (r > 0.8). IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: This study provides evidence for individual COST items to be used as brief screening items. Future research should test the utility of these items in larger sample sizes with a more diverse representation of patients by age, race, ethnicity, and tumor type and stage.

Children's Oncology Group 2023 blueprint for research: Cancer care delivery research.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has a 40-year history of initiatives to encourage the participation of community oncology sites into clinical trials research and clinical care. In 2014, the NCI re-organized to form the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) network across seven research bases, including the Children's Oncology Group (COG), and numerous community sites. The COG portfolio for Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR), mirroring the larger NCORP network, has included two studies addressing guideline congruence, as an important marker of quality cancer care, and another focusing on financial toxicity, addressing the pervasive problems of healthcare cost. CCDR is a cross-cutting field that frequently examines intersectional aspects of healthcare delivery. With that in mind, we explicitly define domains of CCDR to propel our research agenda into the next phase of the NCORP CCDR program while acknowledging the complex and dynamic fields of clinical care, policy level decisions, research findings, and needs of communities served by the NCORP network that will inform the subsequent research questions. To ensure programmatic success, we will engage a broad interdisciplinary group of investigators and clinicians with expertise and dedication to community oncology and the populations they serve.

Children's Oncology Group's 2023 blueprint for research: Diversity and health disparities.

The Children's Oncology Group (COG) Diversity and Health Disparities Committee's (DHDC's) mission is to guarantee the highest standard of care for children and adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer regardless of ethnic, racial, gender, or socioeconomic background. We strive to identify and address issues of disparity within the existing scientific structure of COG and to support research across COG to improve survival by ensuring equitable access to COG-sponsored clinical trials. We are committed to advance COG-led research identifying mechanistic drivers of disparities and, concurrently, evaluating interventions to alleviate disparities in the COG trial setting. As trials identify the most promising therapies, diverse representation is critical to ensure that findings are relevant to everyone. Factors impacting clinical trial participation among vulnerable populations are complex, consisting of barriers at societal, systems, and individual levels. Recent efforts by investigators within DHDC demonstrated that trial-embedded collection of family-reported sociodemographic data and social determinants of health (SDoH) is feasible and acceptable in the context of COG. Diversity in the pediatric oncology workforce is essential and one potential approach to improving representation on clinical trials. To support and retain diverse oncology providers and researchers, a Minority Young Investigator Award (MYIA) was created to facilitate opportunities for graduating trainees and YIs with an interest in childhood cancer disparities research within COG. Although there are challenges to achieve the DHDC's priorities, only through collaboration and support for this work we will be able to elucidate mechanisms underlying inferior survival outcomes for historically marginalized children and AYA, and more importantly, implement interventional investigation to improve outcomes.

Symptom management care pathway adaptation process and specific adaptation decisions.

BACKGROUND: There is substantial heterogeneity in symptom management provided to pediatric patients with cancer. The primary objective was to describe the adaptation process and specific adaptation decisions related to symptom management care pathways based on clinical practice guidelines. The secondary objective evaluated if institutional factors were associated with adaptation decisions. METHODS: Fourteen previously developed symptom management care pathway templates were reviewed by an institutional adaptation team composed of two clinicians at each of 10 institutions. They worked through each statement for all care pathway templates sequentially. The institutional adaptation team made the decision to adopt, adapt or reject each statement, resulting in institution-specific symptom management care pathway drafts. Institutional adaption teams distributed the 14 care pathway drafts to their respective teams; their feedback led to care pathway modifications. RESULTS: Initial care pathway adaptation decision making was completed over a median of 4.2 (interquartile range 2.0-5.3) weeks per institution. Across all institutions and among 1350 statements, 551 (40.8%) were adopted, 657 (48.7%) were adapted, 86 (6.4%) were rejected and 56 (4.1%) were no longer applicable because of a previous decision. Most commonly, the reason for rejection was not agreeing with the statement (70/86, 81.4%). Institutional-level factors were not significantly associated with statement rejection. CONCLUSIONS: Acceptability of the 14 care pathways was evident by most statements being adopted or adapted. The adaptation process was accomplished over a relatively short timeframe. Future work should focus on evaluation of care pathway compliance and determination of the impact of care pathway-consistent care on patient outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04614662. Registered 04/11/2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04614662?term=NCT04614662&draw=2&rank=1 .

Childhood Cancer Death When Life Transpires Where High Childhood Poverty Has Persisted for Decades.

It is increasingly clear that social determinants of health impact health, well-being, and quality of life. How these factors can impact cancer-related mortality has only recently included the impact on childhood cancer mortality. Hoppman and colleagues examined the impact of historically prevalent poverty on children with cancer in Alabama, a state with elevated pediatric poverty. Their findings provide a revised framework for understanding the contribution of neighborhood-level factors to pediatric cancer outcomes, identifying previously unrecognized gaps and directing us toward new study approaches to better inform interventions at the individual, institutional and policy levels to improve childhood cancer survival. We provide additional commentary on the implications of these findings, unanswered questions, and considerations for the next generation of interventions to improve childhood cancer survival. See related article by Hoppmann et al., p. 380.

Implementation of Systematic Financial Screening in an Outpatient Breast Oncology Setting.

PURPOSE: Implementation of routine financial screening is a critical step toward mitigating financial toxicity. We evaluated the feasibility, sustainability, and acceptability of systematic financial screening in the outpatient breast oncology clinic at a large, urban cancer center. METHODS: We developed and implemented a stakeholder-informed process to systematically screen for financial hardship and worry. A 2-item assessment in English or Spanish was administered to patients through the electronic medical record portal or using paper forms. We evaluated completion rates and mode of completion. Through feedback from patients, clinicians, and staff, we identified strategies to improve completion rates and acceptability. RESULTS: From March, 2021, to February, 2022, 3,500 patients were seen in the breast oncology clinic. Of them, 39% (n = 1,349) responded to the screening items, either by paper or portal, 12% (n = 437) preferred not to answer, and the remaining 49% (n = 1,714) did not have data in their electronic health record, meaning they were not offered screening or did not complete the paper forms. Young adults (18-39 years) were more likely to respond compared with patients 70 years or older (61% v 30%, P < .01). English-preferring patients were more likely to complete the screening compared with those who preferred Spanish (46% v 28%, P < .01). Non-Hispanic White patients were more likely to respond compared with Non-Hispanic Black patients and with Hispanic patients (46% v 39% v 32%, P < .01). Strategies to improve completion rates included partnering with staff to facilitate paper form administration, optimizing patient engagement with the portal, and clearly communicating the purpose of the screening. CONCLUSION: Systematic financial screening is feasible, and electronic data capture facilitates successful implementation. However, inclusive procedures that address language and technology preferences are needed to optimize screening.

Clinical practice guideline recommendation summaries for pediatric oncology health care professionals: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a summary format of clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations to improve understandability among health care professionals. METHODS: We developed a summary format based on current research and used the "Think Aloud" technique in one-on-one cognitive interviews to iteratively improve it. Interviews of health care professionals from Children's Oncology Group-member, National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program sites were conducted. After every five interviews (a round), responses were reviewed, and changes made to the format until it was well understood and no new, substantive suggestions for revision were raised. We took a directed (deductive) approach to content analysis of the interview notes to identify concerns related to recommendation summary usability, understandability, validity, applicability and visual appeal. RESULTS: During seven rounds of interviews with 33 health care professionals, we identified important factors that influenced understandability. Participants found understanding weak recommendations more challenging than strong recommendations. Understanding was improved when the term 'conditional' recommendation was used instead of 'weak' recommendation. Participants found a Rationale section to be very helpful but desired more information when a recommendation entailed a practice change. In the final format, the recommendation strength is clearly indicated in the title, highlighted, and defined within a text box. The rationale for the recommendation is in a column on the left, with supporting evidence on the right. In a bulleted list, the Rationale section describes the benefits and harms and additional factors, such as implementation, that were considered by the CPG developers. Each bullet under the supporting evidence section indicates the level of evidence with an explanation and the supporting studies with hyperlinks when applicable. CONCLUSIONS: A summary format to present strong and conditional recommendations was created through an iterative interview process. The format is straightforward, making it easy for organizations and CPG developers to use it to communicate recommendations clearly to intended users.

Reducing Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Outcome Disparities Through Optimized Care Delivery: A Blueprint from the Children's Oncology Group.

Achieving equitable, high-quality cancer care delivery across socioeconomically and biologically diverse populations requires multilevel interventions, including those at the patient, provider, institution, and policy levels that influence cost, quality, and access to care. For adolescent and young adults (AYAs), who experience suboptimal health outcomes compared with younger and older people with cancer, cancer care delivery is influenced by additional contextual factors unique to the patients' developmental stage, psychosocial and economic status, and cancer subtype. In this review, we highlight the most pressing research needs in AYA cancer care delivery and opportunities to improve outcomes for this population.

Guideline for the Management of Fever and Neutropenia in Pediatric Patients With Cancer and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Recipients: 2023 Update.

PURPOSE: To update a clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the empiric management of fever and neutropenia (FN) in pediatric patients with cancer and hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients. METHODS: The International Pediatric Fever and Neutropenia Guideline Panel reconvened to conduct the second update of this CPG. We updated the previous systematic review to identify new randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating any strategy for the management of FN in pediatric patients. Using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework, evidence quality was classified as high, moderate, low, or very low. The panel updated recommendations related to initial management, ongoing management, and empiric antifungal therapy. Changes from the 2017 CPG were articulated, and good practice statements were considered. RESULTS: We identified 10 new RCTs in addition to the 69 RCTs identified in previous FN CPGs to inform the 2023 FN CPG. Changes from the 2017 CPG included two conditional recommendations regarding (1) discontinuation of empiric antibacterial therapy in clinically well and afebrile patients with low-risk FN if blood cultures remain negative at 48 hours despite no evidence of marrow recovery and (2) pre-emptive antifungal therapy for invasive fungal disease in high-risk patients not receiving antimold prophylaxis. The panel created a good practice statement to initiate FN CPG-consistent empiric antibacterial therapy as soon as possible in clinically unstable febrile patients. CONCLUSION: The updated FN CPG incorporates important modifications on the basis of recently published trials. Future work should focus on addressing knowledge gaps, improving CPG implementation, and measuring the impact of CPG-consistent care.