The National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a non-profit comprised of 33 leading cancer centers across the U.S., has published the first set of guidelines for oncologists about treating solid tumors in children.
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that forms solid tumors and typically occurs in early childhood — typically before a child turns 5, according to the NCCN. It can be challenging to treat, according to Rochelle Bagatell, MD, Solid Tumor Section Chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Chair of the NCCN's guideline panel. It can be challenging because it is a "biologically and clinically heterogeneous cancer," she said in the release.
"The NCCN Guidelines were designed to assist clinicians caring for children with neuroblastoma by providing key information regarding risk stratification and by summarizing the data that have led to the current approaches to therapy," Dr. Bagatell said.
The guidelines will be revised to align with new findings from clinical trials and research as both continue to emerge overtime, according to the release.
For now, the first set of guidelines for this specific type of cancer in children will allow clinicians to have a framework to understand more about a patient's possible outcomes, treatment best practices and more.
"We are particularly concerned with figuring out how to minimize treatment where possible," Julie Park, MD, chair of the oncology department at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and vice-chair of the NCCN panel that formed the guidelines, said. "We wanted to make it easy for providers to quickly recognize which patients can have positive outcomes while experiencing less toxicity. That means including a lot of information on diagnosis and delving into analysis for molecular drivers and aspects of immunotherapy."