Canadian Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Standards of Practice

Julie Bennett; Craig Erker; Lucie Lafay-Cousin; Vijay Ramaswamy; Juliette Hukin; Magimairajan I Vanan; Sylvia Cheng; Hallie Coltin; Adriana Fonseca; Donna Johnston; Andrea Lo; Shayna Zelcer; Saima Alvi; Lynette Bowes; Josée Brossard; Janie Charlebois; David Eisenstat; Kathleen Felton; Adam Fleming; Nada Jabado; Valérie Larouche; Geneviève Legault; Chris Mpofu; Sébastien Perreault; Mariana Silva; Roona Sinha; Doug Strother; Derek S Tsang; Beverly Wilson; Bruce Crooks; Ute Bartels

doi:10.3389/fonc.2020.593192

Canadian Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Standards of Practice

Front Oncol. 2020 Dec 22:10:593192. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.593192. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Julie Bennett¹, Craig Erker², Lucie Lafay-Cousin³, Vijay Ramaswamy¹, Juliette Hukin⁴, Magimairajan I Vanan⁵, Sylvia Cheng⁴, Hallie Coltin⁶, Adriana Fonseca¹, Donna Johnston⁶, Andrea Lo⁷, Shayna Zelcer⁸, Saima Alvi⁹, Lynette Bowes¹⁰, Josée Brossard¹¹, Janie Charlebois¹¹, David Eisenstat¹², Kathleen Felton¹³, Adam Fleming¹⁴, Nada Jabado¹⁵, Valérie Larouche¹⁶, Geneviève Legault¹⁵, Chris Mpofu¹³, Sébastien Perreault¹⁷, Mariana Silva¹⁸, Roona Sinha¹³, Doug Strother³, Derek S Tsang¹⁹, Beverly Wilson¹², Bruce Crooks², Ute Bartels¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neuro-Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada.
³ Department of Oncology, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada.
⁴ Division of Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, British Columbia Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁵ Department of Oncology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁶ Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁷ Division of Radiation Oncology and Developmental Radiotherapeutics, BC Cancer Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁸ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.
⁹ Pediatric Oncology, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, Regina, SK, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of Pediatrics, Memorial University, St. John's, NF, Canada.
¹¹ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
¹² Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology & Palliative Care, Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
¹³ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Jim Pattison Children's Hospital, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
¹⁴ Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, McMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
¹⁵ Division of Hematology/Oncology, Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹⁶ Division of Hematology/Oncology, CHU de Quebec, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
¹⁷ Division of Pediatric Neurology, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹⁸ Division of Pediatrics, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
¹⁹ Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Primary CNS tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related death in pediatrics. It is essential to understand treatment trends to interpret national survival data. In Canada, children with CNS tumors are treated at one of 16 tertiary care centers. We surveyed pediatric neuro-oncologists to create a national standard of practice to be used in the absence of a clinical trial for seven of the most prevalent brain tumors in children. This allowed description of practice across the country, along with a consensus. This had a multitude of benefits, including understanding practice patterns, allowing for a basis to compare in future research and informing Health Canada of the current management of patients. This also allows all children in Canada to receive equivalent care, regardless of location.

Keywords: ependymoma; high grade glioma; low grade glioma; medulloblastoma; national strategy; pediatric neuro-oncology; standards.

Copyright © 2020 Bennett, Erker, Lafay-Cousin, Ramaswamy, Hukin, Vanan, Cheng, Coltin, Fonseca, Johnston, Lo, Zelcer, Alvi, Bowes, Brossard, Charlebois, Eisenstat, Felton, Fleming, Jabado, Larouche, Legault, Mpofu, Perreault, Silva, Sinha, Strother, Tsang, Wilson, Crooks and Bartels.