Pediatric Oncology

Investigators working in Malawi found an association between the combination of vincristine, bleomycin, and etoposide and improved quality of life, overall survival, and event-free survival in children with Kaposi sarcoma

The novel pan-TRK inhibitor larotrectinib (LOXO-101) achieved a 93% response rate in pediatric patients with TRK fusion–positive solid tumors.

Proton beam therapy in children and young adults with nonhematologic malignancies of the head and neck appeared to be safe and delivered local control rates similar to those seen historically.

The risk for graft-vs-host disease is low in children aged 2 to 12 years with acute leukemia, suggesting these patients may be good candidates for reduced preventative measures.

Ipilimumab was associated with a 1-year overall survival rate of 75% in adolescent patients with stage III/IV unresectable malignant melanoma.

Physicians are missing opportunities to refer pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies to palliative care at the end of life, and those who are admitted to palliative care tend to have very advanced disease.

Children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were positive for CD200 and/or CD56 expression had significantly poorer overall survival and disease-free survival.

An adjusted combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery induced a 5-year overall survival rate of 91.3% in pediatric patients with rhabdomyosarcomas of the head and neck.

While survivors of childhood cancers are at increased risk for developing soft-tissue sarcomas compared with the general population, the absolute risk for developing STS is low except for leiomyosarcoma after retinoblastoma.

Guy Young, MD, director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, attending physician, Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, discusses the challenges of using anticoagulants in children with cancer.

Susan R. Rheingold, MD, discusses the impact of CAR T-cell therapy on patients with ALL and options for patients who relapse on treatment.

The European Commission has approved nilotinib (Tasigna) for the treatment of pediatric patients with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase.

Investigators working in the UK and Europe found a correlation between minimal residual disease kinetics and risk for relapse in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sarah K. Tasian, MD, discusses the success of CAR T-cell therapy, as well as novel agents and immunotherapies that appear promising in the treatment of children with leukemia.

Naval Daver, MD, assistant professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the approval of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Everyone, at every level, is checking, rechecking, thinking, researching, asking questions, discussing, analyzing, and trying to help patients.

The FDA has approved dasatinib (Sprycel) for the treatment of pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase.

Treatment with prolonged native E. coli asparaginase therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma not only failed to improve survival versus the standard regimen, but also resulted in an increase in infections and allergy.

The combination of clofarabine, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide reached an overall response rate of 41% in a small study of children and adolescents with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

Guy Young, MD, director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, attending physician, Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USC, discusses other options for managing bleeding in children with cancer.

Guy Young, MD, director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, attending physician, Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USC, discusses using vitamin-K antagonists in children with cancer.

Guy Young, MD, director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, attending physician, Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USC, discusses using anticoagulants in children with cancer.

In the CALL-0603 study of 44 patients with first marrow-relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the second complete remission rate was 72.7% for a chemotherapy regimen that included a reduced dose of idarubicin.

Guy Young, MD, discussed the use of anticoagulants in managing thromboembolic events in pediatric cancer.

Guy Young, MD, director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Program, attending physician, Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USC, discusses the occurrence of thromboembolic events in pediatric cancer.