Establishment of Twinning Partnership to Improve Pediatric Radiotherapy Outcomes Globally.

Purpose: Pediatric radiotherapy is a necessary and challenging component of oncologic care for children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Collaboration between institutions in LMICs and high-income countries (HICs) has been shown to be effective in improving oncologic treatment outcomes; however, literature regarding pediatric radiotherapy twinning partnerships is limited.

Methods: Emory University has a long-standing twinning collaboration with Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) for certain medical specialties.

Risks of Spinal Abnormalities and Growth Impairment After Radiation to the Spine in Childhood Cancer Survivors: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review.

Purpose: A PENTEC (Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic) review was performed to estimate the dose-volume effects of radiation therapy on spine deformities and growth impairment for patients who underwent radiation therapy as children.

Methods And Materials: A systematic literature search was performed to identify published data for spine deformities and growth stunting. Data were extracted from 12 reports of children irradiated to the spine (N = 603 patients).

The impact of radiation therapy variables on pediatric high-grade glioma outcomes: A National Cancer Database analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to report patterns of care for pediatric patients with high-grade glioma (pHGG) and evaluate the impact of radiotherapy (RT) variables on outcomes using the National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Methods: Eligibility criteria included age < 22 years, histologically diagnosed WHO grade III-IV gliomas treated with ≥50 Gy and < 76 Gy RT between 2004 and 2013, and RT initiation within 90 days of diagnosis. RT variables including RT dose, RT timing, and RT modality were analyzed along with baseline demographic, tumor, and treatment variables to assess the impact on overall survival.

Early in vivo Radiation Damage Quantification for Pediatric Craniospinal Irradiation Using Longitudinal MRI for Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy.

Purpose: Proton vertebral body sparing craniospinal irradiation (CSI) treats the thecal sac while avoiding the anterior vertebral bodies in an effort to reduce myelosuppression and growth inhibition. However, robust treatment planning needs to compensate for proton range uncertainty, which contributes unwanted doses within the vertebral bodies. This work aimed to develop an early in vivo radiation damage quantification method using longitudinal magnetic resonance (MR) scans to quantify the dose effect during fractionated CSI.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of pediatric radiotherapy: A critical review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the timely diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including pediatric cancer. Its impact on pediatric oncologic treatments warrants investigation. As radiotherapy is an integral component of cancer care, we reviewed the published data regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of pediatric radiotherapy to inform actions for future global events.

Impact of Age on Overall Survival Among Children With Wilms Tumor: A Population-based Registry Analysis.

Objectives: International trials have reported conflicting findings on whether the association between age and worse overall survival (OS) among children with Wilms tumor (WT) is due to age as an independent prognostic factor or the observation of more advanced disease at older ages. We sought to further elucidate this relationship using a population-based registry analysis.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for all patients diagnosed with WT under the age of 20.

Palliative radiotherapy for children: Symptom response and treatment-associated toxicity according to radiation therapy dose and fractionation.

Background/objectives: Radiotherapy is an effective palliative treatment in advanced cancer. Shorter palliative treatment courses are recommended for adults, though pediatric data addressing treatment efficacy and toxicity according to radiation therapy (RT) dose and fractionation are limited.

Design/methods: Total 213 patients aged 21 years or younger receiving 422 palliative radiotherapy treatment courses from 2003 to 2016 were included.

Evidence-based surgical guidelines for treating children with Wilms tumor in low-resource settings.

Background: Survival of Wilms tumor (WT) is > 90% in high-resource settings but < 30% in low-resource settings. Adapting a standardized surgical approach to WT is challenging in low-resource settings, but a local control strategy is crucial to improving outcomes.

Objective: Provide resource-sensitive recommendations for the surgical management of WT.

Intraventricular topotecan in the successful treatment of recurrent CNS pleuropulmonary blastoma.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare pediatric tumor of the pleura and pulmonary mesenchyme, associated with pathogenic germline DICER1 mutations. Although the most common site of metastasis is the central nervous system (CNS), patients with CNS metastasis have dismal outcome. We report a case of a patient presenting with type II PPB and intracranial and bone metastases.

Pulmonary Toxicity After Total Body Irradiation - Critical Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Toxicity Reporting.

Introduction: Total body irradiation is an effective conditioning regimen for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in pediatric and adult patients with high risk or relapsed/refractory leukemia. The most common adverse effect is pulmonary toxicity including idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS). As centers adopt more advanced treatment planning techniques for TBI, total marrow irradiation (TMI), or total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI) there is a greater need to understand treatment-related risks for IPS for patients treated with conventional TBI.

Practice Patterns of Pediatric Total Body Irradiation Techniques: A Children's Oncology Group Survey.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine current practice patterns in pediatric total body irradiation (TBI) techniques among COG member institutions.

Methods And Materials: Between November 2019 and February 2020, a questionnaire containing 52 questions related to the technical aspects of TBI was sent to medical physicists at 152 COG institutions. The questions were designed to obtain technical information on commonly used TBI treatment techniques.

Intellectual functioning among case-matched cohorts of children treated with proton or photon radiation for standard-risk medulloblastoma.

Background: Proton therapy may reduce cognitive deficits after radiotherapy among brain tumor survivors, although current data are limited to retrospective comparisons between historical cohorts. The authors compared intelligence quotient scores within a case-matched cohort of children with medulloblastoma treated with proton radiation (PRT) or photon radiation (XRT) over the same time period.

Methods: Among 88 consecutive patients with standard-risk medulloblastoma treated with PRT or XRT at 2 institutions from 2000 to 2009, 50 were matched 1:1 (25 with PRT and 25 with XRT) according to age, gender, date of diagnosis, histology, radiation boost, and craniospinal irradiation dose.

The Contribution of Thoracic Radiation Dose Volumes to Subsequent Development of Cardiovascular Disease in Cancer Survivors.

Background: Although radiation therapy (RT) has been recognized for contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD), it is unknown whether specific doses received by cardiovascular tissues influence development.

Objective: In this pilot study, we examined the contribution of RT dose distribution on the development of CVD events in patients with cancer within 5 years of RT.

Methods: A retrospective case-controlled design was used matching 28 cases receiving thoracic RT who subsequently developed an adverse CVD event with 28 controls based upon age, gender, and cancer type.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The survival of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved significantly with the use of intensive multimodality treatment regimens including chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue, and radiation therapy when indicated. This report summarizes the treatment strategies, especially radiation therapy in the Children's Oncology Group for children with ALL. Currently, radiation therapy is only indicated for children with high-risk CNS involvement at diagnosis or relapse, testicular relapse and as part of the conditioning regimen for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic on reversing global life-saving gains in the survival of childhood cancer: a call for collaborative action from SIOP, IPSO, PROS, WCC, CCI, St Jude Global, UICC and WHPCA.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented health crisis in all socio-economic regions across the globe. While the pandemic has had a profound impact on access to and delivery of health care by all services, it has been particularly disruptive for the care of patients with life-threatening noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as the treatment of children and young people with cancer. The reduction in child mortality from preventable causes over the last 50 years has seen childhood cancer emerge as a major unmet health care need.

Children's Oncology Group AALL0434: A Phase III Randomized Clinical Trial Testing Nelarabine in Newly Diagnosed T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Purpose: Nelarabine is effective in inducing remission in patients with relapsed and refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) but has not been fully evaluated in those with newly diagnosed disease.

Patients And Methods: From 2007 to 2014, Children's Oncology Group trial AALL0434 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00408005) enrolled 1,562 evaluable patients with T-ALL age 1-31 years who received the augmented Berlin-Frankfurt-Muenster (ABFM) regimen with a 2 × 2 pseudo-factorial randomization to receive escalating-dose methotrexate (MTX) without leucovorin rescue plus pegaspargase (C-MTX) or high-dose MTX (HDMTX) with leucovorin rescue.

SIOP PODC-adapted treatment guidelines for craniopharyngioma in low- and middle-income settings.

Pediatric craniopharyngioma is a rare tumor with excellent survival but significant long-term morbidities due to the loco-regional tumor growth or secondary to its treatment. Visual impairment, panhypopituitarism, hypothalamic damage, and behavioral changes are among the main challenges. This tumor should be managed under the care of a multidisciplinary team to determine the optimum treatment within the available resources.

Training and education of pediatric radiation oncologists: A survey from the 2019 Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society meeting.

To examine the educational background, clinical practice, and preferences regarding continuing medical education (CME) among radiation oncologists who attended the 2019 meeting of the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society (PROS), a survey consisting of 20 questions was distributed asking for demographic and educational background, clinical practice, and preferences regarding pediatric radiation oncology CME. Of 188 participants, 130 (69.2%) returned the questionnaire.

Practice patterns and recommendations for pediatric image-guided radiotherapy: A Children's Oncology Group report.

This report by the Radiation Oncology Discipline of Children's Oncology Group (COG) describes the practice patterns of pediatric image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) based on a member survey and provides practice recommendations accordingly. The survey comprised of 11 vignettes asking clinicians about their recommended treatment modalities, IGRT preferences, and frequency of in-room verification. Technical questions asked physicists about imaging protocols, dose reduction, setup correction, and adaptive therapy.

Global pediatric radiation therapy in resource-limited settings.

This report provides a summary of the global burden of childhood cancer morbidity and mortality, which disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries as well as low- and middle-income communities within high-income countries. We review past successes and current challenges to improving clinical pediatric radiotherapy, education, and research in these regions. The Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society Taskforce in Low- and Middle-Income Countries recently outlined specific aims: (a) to increase access and quality of radiotherapy for children and adolescents afflicted with cancer; (b) to enumerate, engage, and educate a global community of providers of childhood and adolescent radiotherapy; and (c) to create evidence establishing the outcomes of setting-specific treatment standards of care when first-world standards are not achievable.

Maintenance Therapy for Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma After Total Skin Electron Irradiation: Evidence for Improved Overall Survival With Ultraviolet Therapy.

Background: Treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with total skin electron beam (TSEB) therapy has been associated with deep responses but short progression-free intervals. Maintenance therapy might prolong the response duration; however, limited data assessing the outcomes with maintenance therapy after TSEB are available. We evaluated the effect of maintenance therapy on the outcomes for patients with CTCL receiving TSEB therapy.