The adolescent and young adult with cancer: state of the art -- psychosocial aspects.

Adolescents and young adults with cancer are a distinct subgroup of patients within oncology. From the onset of symptoms until the completion of therapy and beyond, they face physical, psychological, and social challenges that are significantly different from those of adults and children. Survival rates and quality of life outcomes for this population have not improved to the same extent that have for younger and older patients. Improvements in quality of care, overall survival and quality of life for these patients require access to specialized care and participation in clinical trials; assistance with management of disease and treatment effects (especially fertility and body image issues); assessment of psychosocial needs; facilitated transition to off-treatment care; and referral to age-appropriated information and support services. Staff team caring for young patients must be dedicated to working with this age group and should have specialist knowledge and training to support their specific needs.

End-of-life management in pediatric cancer.

Pediatric palliative care at the end-of-life is focused on ensuring the best possible quality of life for patients with life-threatening illness and their families. To achieve this goal, important needs include: engaging with patients and families; improving communication and relationships; relieving pain and other symptoms, whether physical, psychosocial, or spiritual; establishing continuity and consistency of care across different settings; considering patients and families in the decision-making process about services and treatment choices to the fullest possible and desired degree; being sensitive to culturally diverse beliefs and values about death and dying; and responding to suffering, bereavement, and providing staff support. Any effort to improve quality of palliative and end-of-life care in pediatric oncology must be accompanied by an educational strategy to enhance the level of competence among health care professionals with regard to palliative care and end-of-life management skills as well as understanding of individualized care planning and coordination processes.

Optimal care for the child with cancer: A summary statement from the SIOP Working Committee on Psychosocial Issues in Pediatric Oncology.

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.

Non-conventional therapies in childhood cancer: guidelines for distinguishing non-harmful from harmful therapies: a report of the SIOP Working Committee on Psychosocial Issues in Pediatric Oncology.

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.

Valid informed consent and participative decision-making in children with cancer and their parents: a report of the SIOP Working Committee on psychosocial issues in pediatric oncology.

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.