Spirituality in Multicultural Pediatric Oncology End-of-Life Care: Four Cases.

Attention to spiritual needs at the end-of-life remains an issue that deserves to be implemented in oncology, especially when it comes to pediatric patients. Using different end-of-life stories experienced at the pediatric oncology unit of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan as a starting point, this work would like to analyze the approach to spirituality and religiosity in pediatric palliative care.There are no specific inclusion/exclusion criteria for this study. We selected 4 representative cases of terminally ill pediatric patients treated and died from January 1, 2011, to September 30, 2024, in whom spiritual or religious beliefs played a significant role in care planning. The aim is descriptive and educational.To date, there are no real guidelines. Several groups recommend providing interprofessional psychosocial support for pediatric patients with cancer throughout the care trajectory. Based on our experience, our working group also agrees in strongly recommending spiritual support, and here too we would like to emphasize the importance of the "team."