Oncological Illnesses

Abstract

Oncological illnesses in childhood include leukemias, lymphomas, brain tumors, and extracranial solid tumors arising from tissues such as muscle, neural tissue, and internal organs. Cancer prevalence, types of cancers that predominate, and typical prognoses for these cancers differ substantially from adult-onset cancers. Yet, as for adults, cancer remains one of the most life-threatening childhood illnesses. Cancer and cancer treatment may alter every aspect of a family’s daily life and anticipated future. This altered reality applies even to children who are likely to live a long life after being diagnosed with cancer. Children with cancer and their families face high symptom burdens, uncertainty, and the possibility of death or long-term poor health from cancer or complications of cancer treatment. Ideally, interdisciplinary palliative care promotes physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. Core tenets of PPC within oncology include systematic symptom assessment and intervention, facilitation of patient and family-centered communication, and developmentally informed advance care planning. As such, palliative care is a necessary component of state-of-the-art childhood cancer care throughout the illness trajectory. Clinicians who care for children with cancer are at risk for work-related distress. In addition to caring for patients and families, interdisciplinary palliative care teams may facilitate reflection and meaning-making to promote clinician resiliency.