The American Cancer Society estimates that around 9,910 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Pediatric cancer is the second largest cause of death in children up to 14 years of age in the United States, and the disease is expected to take the lives of 1,040 children under 15 years in 2023.
According to the World Health Organization, around 400,000 children aged 0 to 19 years of age are estimated to develop cancer worldwide annually. Advancements in medicine have allowed physicians to detect pediatric cancer earlier and avoid treatment delays, resulting in around 85% of pediatric cancer patients surviving for five years or more after diagnosis.
Now recent research has revealed that pediatric oncologists often do not discuss prognostic information with patients and caregivers after a cancer diagnosis. Prognostic information is data that patients need to make fully informed decisions about their medical condition.
The recent study found that most pediatric oncologists choose not to provide families and caregivers with prognostic information. Furthermore, the study found that there was little standardized training on how pediatric oncologists could handle these conversations with caregivers.
For their study, the investigators started by interviewing 20 pediatric oncology physicians and fellows, centering on the means these physicians used to convey prognostic information and treatment plans to the family of a child with a new cancer diagnosis. The researchers used the information collected in the interviews to help develop a quantitative survey, which was then issued to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education hematology-oncology fellowship programs.
Results show that 75% of the initial interview participants were attending physicians with a mean pediatric oncology experience of 12.2 years while 15% were fellows with a mean experience of 1.4 years. Most of the interviewees revealed that they covered diagnostic discussions in three stages, with the first being talking about the possibility of a cancer diagnosis followed by confirming the diagnosis and discussing a treatment plan for the patients. They then decide whether or not to involve the child in these discussions based on their age, maturity and parents’ preference.
An estimated 50% of the survey respondents noted that their choice on whether to include the child in diagnostic discussions was based on parental preference while 47% based the decision on the child’s level of maturity. Some 47% also stated that they regularly provided prognostic information during diagnosis conversations while 10% admitted they always discussed patient prognosis.
In their conclusion, the researchers highlighted that their findings underlined the need for standardized training on how pediatric oncologists could conduct these conversations with patients and their caregivers.
As many companies such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) develop cancer treatments that are more effective and have fewer side effects, chances are that clinicians will be more comfortable discussing the prognosis of pediatric cancers with the concerned parties such as caregivers and the patients themselves since the outlook may be better given those future treatment options.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
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