Issue Links
Imaging Guidelines for Paediatric Brain Tumours
The Lancet Oncology
Published: June 2, 2020
Paediatric brain tumours often have distinctive features from those of adult brain tumours. Because the paediatric brain is more susceptible to the toxic effects of the several therapies these children are exposed to, imaging plays a crucial part in the clinic for an accurate treatment planning, and survival and functioning assessments.
Pancreatic cancer
The Lancet Oncology
Published: March 4, 2020
Pancreatic cancer is an intractable disease that often evades early diagnosis and defies treatment. The global incidence of pancreatic cancer in 2017 was 5·7 per 100 000 person-years, up from 5·0 per 100 000 person-years in 1990; deaths have also increased during this time period from 196 000 to 441 000. Pancreatic cancer also has one of the highest mortality-to-incidence ratios of any solid tumour. To tackle these grim statistics, the management of pancreatic cancer needs new, cross-disciplinary solutions, integrating the basic biology of genomics, molecular and cellular biology, and immunology, with clinical research in detection, diagnosis, and treatment. To bring together cutting edge research in these areas, The Lancet Oncology, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and EBioMedicine present a cross-journal Series of four Reviews highlighting the progress being made in all areas of pancreatic cancer research.
Sustainable care for children with cancer
The Lancet Oncology
Published: March 30, 2020
Cancer kills more than 100,000 children each year, and yet 80% of paediatric cancers are curable with currently available interventions. Notably, the majority of these deaths occur in low‐income and middle-income countries where children have poor access to health services. It is crucial that as countries transition to universal health care, childhood cancers are recognised as a priority for inclusion in benefits packages. Yet no reliable data are available in low-income and middle-income countries on the current and future burden of childhood cancer; on cost of effective interventions; on current coverage levels for diagnostic, treatment, and care services; or on the cost, feasibility, or health and economic benefits of scaling-up effective coverage. There is an imperative for a comprehensive study to estimate the number of new cases, survival with and without treatment, the number of deaths without additional investments to scale up health services and treatment for children with cancer, and to develop an investment framework to establish an evidence-based case for investing in effective interventions to address childhood cancer. In a new Commission from The Lancet Oncology, Rifat Atun, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, and colleagues provide a comprehensive analysis to develop an investment case for funding management and control of childhood cancer.
Integration of oncology and palliative care
The Lancet Oncology
Published: October 18, 2018
While much cancer research is directed towards combating and treating cancer as a disease, much less attention is paid to a patient’s wellbeing and quality of life during the course of the disease. In a new Commission from The Lancet Oncology, Stein Kaasa and colleagues critically discuss how to integrate oncology and palliative care using standardised care pathways, referral guidelines, and collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for patient-centred care. Not only does the Commission promote integration of oncology and palliative care, it also calls for a system-level change in which the activities of professionals are coordinated to help develop and implement new educational programmes within oncology and palliative care. To succeed, effective integration must be anchored in management and policy at all levels of health care, and an integrated approach must be reflected in both international and national cancer control plans to help develop new models of care, educational and research programmes, adequate resource allocation, and sufficient investment. Hopefully, by bringing the need of palliative care into the limelight, not only does the Commission challenge the traditional, dualistic perspective of treating either the tumour or the host, it also encourages a combined approach that places the patient’s perspective at the centre of their care.