ecancermedicalscience最新文献

{"title":"Teaching empathy and compassion to healthcare providers in palliative care: a scoping review.","authors":"Seema Rajesh Rao, Mithili Narayan Sherigar, Michelle Normen, Udita Joshi","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1817","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1817","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Empathy and compassion are core competencies that healthcare providers (HCPs) require when caring for patients and families with life-threatening illnesses like cancer. These constructs are often challenging to define and generalise and are often used interchangeably. Medical education has evolved from the traditional curriculum-based approach to a more eclectic competency-based approach. The purpose of this review is to explore the current evidence on teaching compassionate care for palliative care issues in cancer settings in lower-middle-income countries. A preliminary search of the Scopus database from 2,000 until now identified 1,502 records, of which 54 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review. Training in compassion and empathy was delivered in three formats: online, face-to-face and blended learning or hybrid. The training modalities were didactic, experiential and reflective, with many educational interventions using a multimodal approach. The educational interventions reported a positive outcome and improvement in empathetic and compassionate behaviours. However, they were limited due to inadequately defined constructs, use of self-reported outcome measures and difficulty in ascertaining if these skills were retained long-term and were translated into the clinical settings. Given that compassion and empathy are multidimensional constructs, it is imperative that educational interventions be multimodal and learner-centred, focusing on developing the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours of the HCP in providing compassionate care while aiming for conceptual clarity regarding definition and more robust validated outcome measures.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1817"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959133/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paediatric palliative care in cancer.","authors":"Julia Downing, Alexandra Daniels, Michael J McNeil, Mariam Ndagire, Gayatri Palat, Rime S Rassam, Justin N Baker","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1823","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1823","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>More than 21 million children globally need access to palliative care (PC) - including children with cancer. Providing Paediatric Palliative Care (PPC) for children with cancer is an ethical imperative with pain relief being recognised as a human right and an important public health consideration, with PPC being essential for reducing suffering in children and families. PPC addresses children's symptoms and aims to provide comfort even if a cure is not possible. PC for children with cancer is about ensuring that the child and family have the best possible quality of life starting at diagnosis and throughout the disease trajectory regardless of cancer treatment outcomes. Many principles of PPC for children with cancer are similar to those for children with other serious health conditions. These include the following: promotion of quality of life; provision of PC care across the continuum of care (from diagnosis through to bereavement); pain and symptom management; emotional support; social care; spiritual care; good communication with children and family; advance care planning; end-of-life care; and bereavement care. PPC should be provided across the range of care settings, wherever the child and their family need care, by an inter-disciplinary team providing support to the child, their families (including siblings) and other significant others, and consider the financial impact of having a child with cancer. It should not be a last resort, but an essential component of care. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the integration of PPC into paediatric cancer care through the review of challenges in providing PPC in paediatric oncology, global examples of clinical provision of PPC in paediatric cancer care, a review of global research priorities in this area and examples of global education programmes aimed at improving PPC in paediatric cancer care.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1823"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959118/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Financial toxicity in cancer palliative care in India: Addressing existence and beyond - Seeking remedies for a balanced financial journey.","authors":"Saurabh Joshi, Anuja Damani, Anant Garg, Sunny Malik, Ajay Kumar Dewan, Rakesh Sharma, Upkar Joshi","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1820","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1820","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Financial toxicity (FT) places a significant burden on individuals undergoing cancer care, leading to emotional distress, social isolation and financial burnout. In India, the growing number of cancer cases and the ever-expanding population, combined with insufficient government investment in public healthcare, inadequate insurance coverage, poor financial literacy among medical and non-medical communities and the lack of comprehensive financial planning exacerbate the financial difficulties faced by patients. This article aims to address FT as a source of suffering and explores potential frameworks and solutions for preventing and managing FT in patients undergoing cancer treatment and seeking palliative and hospice care in India. We conducted a literature search to review the burden of FT, across diverse healthcare settings for cancer patients. The prevalence of FT in cancer care ranges from 30% to 90.1% and is influenced by various socio-demographic, disease and healthcare-related factors. The sources of distress financing include consumption of savings, asset sales and borrowing, which add to the financial suffering. This interdisciplinary collaborative research paper highlights the dearth of financial literacy in our population and emphasises the pressing need to enhance financial awareness for healthcare professionals, cancer patients and their families. More than 30% of the Indian population lacks any form of insurance coverage, and many of those who do have it mostly lack 'adequate' coverage. We explore essential financial strategies, such as budgeting, expense analysis, asset consolidation, liquidity management, understanding estate planning tools and banking operations, streamlining paperwork, ensuring smooth transactions, adopting methods like low-interest loans and crowdfunding platforms, advance care planning, early palliative care ntegration and timely transition to hospice care. We also highlight the importance of available community resources, non-profit organisations, cancer foundations, health insurance and government support. Overall, integrating financial planning into cancer palliative care seems essential for reducing FT and enhancing the quality of cancer care in India. Further research on the topic is needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1820"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959117/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Management of pain in cancer patients - an update.","authors":"María Laura Daud, Gustavo G De Simone","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1821","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1821","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pain is one of the most detrimental symptoms exhibited by cancer patients, being an indication for opioid therapy in up to half of the patients receiving chemotherapy and even more for those with advanced cancer. This article aims to briefly overview current knowledge on cancer-related pain with a focus on assessment and new approaches and trends. We will also provide some insight on the lower- and middle-income countries context.</p><p><strong>Data sources: </strong>A narrative review of the literature was conducted including relevant guidelines and recommendations from scientific societies and WHO.</p><p><strong>Data summary: </strong>Data on the approach and assessment of cancer pain as well as current and novel approaches have been displayed with the help of tables and figures.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Since the initial recommendations of the WHO analgesic ladder method, new insights have emerged. Scientific progress reaches its maximum social sense when populations and governments prioritise the value of relief and compassion, and concrete actions are implemented with the aim of relieving cancer pain.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1821"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959144/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Should we perform baseline NGS testing in precursor T lymphoblastic leukaemias: a single centre experience from Eastern India.","authors":"Prateek Das, Sujeet Kumar, Raghwesh Ranjan, Pradeep Arumugam, Nilesh Dhole, RohitKumar Kori, Anil Yadav, Anil Singh, Vikramjit Kanwar, Neha Singh","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1815","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1815","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>T-lymphoblastic leukaemia accounts for approximately one-fourth of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cases. Sequencing approaches have identified >100 genes that can be mutated in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL). However, the revised WHO 2022 edition of lymphoid neoplasms still does not incorporate molecular signatures into the T-ALL subgrouping unlike B-ALLs and acute myeloid leukemia, which are classified mainly based on molecular landscapes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective observational study included all newly diagnosed patients of T-lymphoblastic leukaemia of all age groups who presented during the period between January 2022 and October 2023 in whom complete baseline diagnostic work-up was available including flow cytometry, fluorescence in situ hybridization and next generation sequencing studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There was a lower frequency of karyotypic abnormalities in adult early T progenitor (ETP)-ALLs than in other sub-groups. Non-ETP ALLs showed significant association with NOTCH1 mutations (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.00001), followed by JAK3 (<i>p</i> = 0.01), FBXW7 (<i>p</i> = 0.066) and PHF6 (<i>p</i> = 0.09) mutations. There was no difference between adult and pediatric patients, in terms of genomic profiling except in the PHF6 gene. There was no significant difference between NOTCH1-mutated and NOTCH1-wild T-ALL patients as well as NOTCH1-heterodimerization versus NOTCH1-PEST mutated patients in terms of measurable residual disease (MRD), relapse-free survival (RFS) and/or overall survival (OS). 45.1% of all TALL patients harboured ≥3 mutations. However, the complex molecular profile did not correlate significantly with MRD positivity and poor RFS and/or OS rates.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Molecular profiling of TALLs do not significantly impact long-term survival outcomes. In resource-constrained settings, we can get away by not doing comprehensive molecular profiling of TALLs at baseline and restrict the sequencing assay to only those cases that are persistently MRD positive or have relapsed.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1815"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959121/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in colorectal carcinoma in an indigenous African population of Kano, Nigeria.","authors":"Jimoh Ajanaku Abdulrazaq, Mohammed Aminu Zakari, Yusuf Ibrahim, Hamza Ahmad","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1816","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1816","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>cyclooxygenases-2 (COX-2) over-expression has been noticed in colorectal cancers (CRCs) with adverse outcomes, serving as a potential marker for prognosis, targeted therapy and as a window in CRC prevention. Unfortunately, there are scarce data regarding COX-2 expression in CRC in Africa where CRC incidence is on the increase with younger age affectation and unfavourable outcomes.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>This retrospective study aims to determine the proportion of CRCs that over-express COX-2 and document any relationship between COX-2 over-expression with clinicopathological features such as histologic subtype, tumour grade, age and sex.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All the 139 CRCs that were histologically diagnosed at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital over a 5-year period were included, but only 124 Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were sectioned and stained with COX-2 antibody. COX-2 expression was scored for distribution (no cells = 0, 1%-10% = 1, 11%-50% = 2, 51%-80% = 3, 81%-100% = 4) and intensity (no stain = 0; weak = 1; moderate = 2, strong = 3). The immunoreactive score (IRS) is a product of intensity (I) and distribution (D) as: 9-12 strongly +, 5-8 moderately +, 1-4 weakly + and 0 negative. Over-expression of COX-2 is an IRS of 5-12. Outcomes were statistically evaluated with clinicopathological data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The CRCs occurred more commonly in males (M: F, 2:1), in the middle age group (mostly between 30 and 59 years), and 51.1% of cases occurred before 50 years and peaked in the 6th decade. Over-expression of COX-2 was observed in 46.8% (58/124) and was strongly associated with adenocarcinoma (ADC) not otherwise specified (NOS) (moderately and poorly differentiated tumours) but not with age or sex.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The over-expression of COX-2 was significantly associated with ADC NOS (moderately and poorly differentiated tumours), indicating that it may influence the outcome of CRCs with possible variation in tumour subtype.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1816"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959126/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-2 gene expression in colorectal carcinomas may predict poorer survival.","authors":"Uchenna Simon Ezenkwa, Sebastian Anebuokhae Omenai, Oluwadamilare Iyapo, Chinedu Anthony Ezekekwu, Adesoji E Adetona, Chima Uzoma Akunwata, Ayotunde Oladunmi Ale, Henry Okwuchukwu Ebili","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1814","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1814","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-2 (ptgs2), otherwise called Cyclooxygenase 2, is overexpressed in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) compared to normal tissues. However, the impact of differential expression among ptgs2-positive tumours on CRC prognosis has not been well investigated. By sub-stratifying positive tumour expression, this study determined its potential influence on patients' outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The Cancer Genome Atlas database was explored to determine CRC cases with RNA-Sequence (RNA-Seq) transcript data and matched clinicopathological data alongside gene copy number variation and methylation status. Descriptive, chi-square, Fisher exact, Linear-by-Linear associations, logistic and Kaplan-Meier statistics were used to determine proportions, associations, predictors and survival between ptgs2 and tumour parameters using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Two-tailed <i>p</i>-value <0.05 was accepted as statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were 534 CRC classified predominantly as adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (86.3%) and mucinous carcinoma (12.4) histologically included in this study. Marker (ptgs2) expression ranged from 0.02 FPKM-131.89 FPKM, (Median 1.4 FPKM). The majority of the cases (53.4%) were diagnosed at an early stage and showed high ptgs2 RNA-Sequence (RNA-seq) expression in 51.5% (275/534). Significant associations were seen between ptgs2 expression and histological subtype (<i>p</i> < 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.013), pN2 stage (> 6 positive lymph nodes) (<i>p</i> = 0.011) and American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging stage (<i>p</i> = 0.028), and these all had lower ptgs2 expression. On regression analysis, histological differentiation emerged as a predictor of ptgs2 expression (Odds ratio 2.749, 95% confidence interval 1.479-5.108, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Also, gene methylation was associated with reduced ptgs2 expression. Overall survival was significantly inferior among individuals with low ptgs2 tumours (<i>p</i> = 0.018) while that for disease-free survival was non-significant (<i>p</i> = 0.327).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>CRCs with low ptgs2 transcripts are associated with poorer survival. This finding suggests a need for closer follow up and tailored adjuvant therapy for these patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1814"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959140/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Real world outcomes in alveolar soft part sarcomas: experience with an ultra-rare sarcoma from a tertiary care centre in North India.","authors":"Sanal Fernandes, Sameer Rastogi, Kanu Priya Bhatia, Sindhura Chitikela, Shamim A Shamim, Shivanand Gammanagatti, Adarsh Barwad","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1813","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1813","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare, indolent soft tissue sarcoma, with a high predilection for systemic dissemination. This study aims to elucidate the patterns of clinical presentation of ASPS and their treatment outcomes, with emphasis on the use of newer therapeutic agents and their efficacy in advanced ASPS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a retrospective cohort that included patients with ASPS treated at our institute between 2016 and 2023. Clinicopathological data were obtained from case records and analysed to assess outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study included 34 patients (19 males, 15 females) with a median age of 28 (3-72) years. 7 patients presented with localised disease, and 27 with metastatic disease. The most common site of primary was the extremities (73%), and the most common sites of metastasis included the lungs (82%) and bones (21%). Brain metastasis was seen in 7 patients at baseline (25.9%). 90% of patients with metastatic disease received a tyrosine kinase inhibitor in the first-line setting with a median progression-free survival of 12 months. The median overall survival in this subset was 36 months. 7 patients with the advanced disease received immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (3-atezolizumab, 4-nivolumab); 2 patients on atezolizumab and 1 on nivolumab continue to be progression free at 20,15 and 52 months, respectively. Patients with brain metastasis were seen to have markedly poor outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The use of anti-angiogenic agents and ICIs has significantly improved survival in patients with advanced ASPS. Brain metastasis confers poor survival in these patients despite the use of newer agents. This study represents the largest cohort of patients with advanced ASPS from this region.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1813"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959123/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pericardial synovial sarcoma in a young adult: case report of a rare malignancy.","authors":"Javeria Haider, Humera Mahmood, Muhammad Faheem, Shaista Khurshid","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1811","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1811","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synovial sarcoma is a rare mesenchymal tumour that mainly presents in adolescents and adults younger than 30. It is characterised by a translocation between chromosomes X and 18, which leads to the expression of SS18:SSX fusion proteins. Although it can arise from various soft tissues, the lower limb is the most common site of origin. Pericardial synovial sarcoma is an extremely rare primary malignant tumour of the heart with an unclear prognosis. There are only a few cases reported from Pakistan. Here, we report a case of a 33-year-old male who presented with symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath. The case was discussed in a multi-disciplinary tumour board and the surgeons deferred surgery as it was associated with high-risk mortality and was also refused by the patient so he was first managed with systemic chemotherapy to which he responded very well and was shifted to maintenance therapy using Pazopanib (small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors), to which he initially responded but later symptoms started to worsen and there was an interval increase in the size of the lesion. This report aims to share the diagnosis and management of this patient.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1811"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959142/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Delivering psychological and social support to children with cancer in India and their families: a position statement from the social and psychological taskforce of the Indian childhood cancer initiative.","authors":"Rhea Daruvala, Ruchira Misra, Bindu Nair, Hiba Siddiqui, Usha Banerji, Valerie M Crabtree, Ramandeep Singh Arora","doi":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1812","DOIUrl":"10.3332/ecancer.2024.1812","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Indian childhood cancer initiative (ICCI) was established to address the critical gaps in childhood cancer care within India, where survival rates are significantly lower compared to high-income countries. While psychosocial support is a well-recognised component of comprehensive cancer care, its provision in India remains fragmented and inconsistent. This position statement, developed by the ICCI Psychological and Social Support Taskforce, outlines the urgent need for standardization of psychological and social care in pediatric oncology across the country. Informed by a thorough needs assessment and guided by international standards, this document proposes key areas of focus for integrating psychosocial support into pediatric cancer care. The taskforce identified eight priority areas essential for addressing the psychosocial needs of pediatric oncology patients and their families: ensuring holistic care through the integration of psychological and social support with medical treatment, early psychosocial assessment and intervention, interdisciplinary collaboration, community outreach, policy advocacy, research and the establishment of national standards for care. Early identification and intervention of psychosocial issues are critical to improving treatment adherence and overall patient outcomes. Furthermore, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between medical professionals, psychologists and social workers is essential for delivering comprehensive care. The taskforce emphasises the importance of advocacy at both the policy level and community level, raising awareness about the psychosocial needs of children with cancer. The statement also highlights the necessity of expanding research in psychosocial oncology, particularly within the Indian context, to develop culturally sensitive interventions. Establishing national standards for psychosocial care will ensure equitable access to these services, addressing current disparities in service provision. In conclusion, this position statement advocates for systemic changes in pediatric cancer care, integrating psychosocial services into treatment protocols, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and driving research and policy development to improve the quality of life for children with cancer and their families.</p>","PeriodicalId":11460,"journal":{"name":"ecancermedicalscience","volume":"18 ","pages":"1812"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959125/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}