These supportive care recommendations were prepared to guide doctors who practice in areas with significantly limited resources but who have sufficient infrastructure and training to treat children with cancer with curative intent. The success of any cancer treatment regimen depends largely on the availability and quality of supportive care and this also determines the intensity of treatment that can be delivered. We present practical recommendations on how to prevent infections, general nursing care, management of febrile neutropenia, nutritional assessment and support, treatment of co‐infections and the social support to help prevent failure to complete treatment in resource poor settings. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2013; 60: 899–904. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effective treatment of children with medulloblastoma requires a functioning multi-disciplinary team with adequate neurosurgical, neuroradiological, pathological, radiotherapy and chemotherapy facilities and personnel. In addition the treating centre should have the capacity to effectively screen and manage any tumour and treatment-associated complications. These requirements have made it difficult for many low and middle-income countries (LMIC) centres to offer curative treatment. This article provides management recommendations for children with standard-risk medulloblastoma (localised tumours in children over the age of 3-5 years) according to the level of facilities available.

The majority of children with cancer live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with little or no access to cancer treatment. The purpose of the paper is to describe the current status of childhood cancer treatment in Africa, as documented in publications, dedicated websites and information collected through surveys. Successful twinning programmes, like those in Malawi and Cameroon, as well as the collaborative clinical trial approach of the Franco-African Childhood Cancer Group (GFAOP), provide good models for childhood cancer treatment. The overview will hopefully influence health-care policies to facilitate access to cancer care for all children in Africa.

This paper examines whether the ranges of occurrence of anchovy and sardine eggs have changed off the South African coast in recent years, and whether this could be linked to changes in sea surface temperature (SST). We used a single parameter quotient analysis with randomization to estimate the preferred and tolerated SST ranges of the spawning habitats of anchovy and sardine in the southern Benguela over the period 1988–2009. Previous studies have reported long‐term change in SST off the South African coast, and our analysis was aimed at determining whether spawning habitat selection by these small pelagic fish tracked such change. The analysis used data on egg occurrence collected concurrently with in situ SST data during annual surveys of pelagic fish biomass conducted along the South African coast. Results show that anchovy typically, but not always, spawn in warmer waters (17.0–23.0°C) than sardine do (16.0–22.0°C), and sardine almost always showed a wider SST tolerance range than did anchovy, over the time‐series. The analysis further suggests evidence of an increase in the surface temperature conditions along the South African coast recently; the spawning patterns of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardinops sagax) appear to track these changes through time. Therefore, the spawning habitat preferences of anchovy and sardine in the southern Benguela have changed in recent years, but this is unlikely to be due to warming alone.

The study shows more Kaposi sarcoma and fewer primary central nervous system lymphomas among HIV-positive children than that is reported in the developed world, but confirms a higher incidence of non-Burkitt B-cell lymphoma than in HIV-negative children. The high number of non-AIDS-defining malignancies underscores the prevalence of HIV-AIDS in South Africa. The overall survival should improve with universal access to antiretrovirals and earlier diagnosis.

BSI in these patients was caused mainly by Gram-positive bacteria and was associated with a low case-fatality rate. These results are consistent with worldwide experience of BSI in paediatric oncology.

Background: Outcome data for neuroblastoma in sub-Saharan Africa are minimal, whereas poor outcome is reported in low-and middle-income countries. A multi-institutional retrospective study across South Africa was undertaken to determine outcome. pediatric oncology units were included. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models were employed to determine two-year survival rates and to identify prognostic factors.Results: Data from 390 patients were analyzed. The median age was 39.9 months (range, 0-201 months). The majority presented with stage 4 disease (70%). The main chemotherapy regimens were OPEC/OJEC (44.8%), St Jude NB84 protocol (28.96%), and Rapid COJEC (22.17%).Only 44.4% had surgery across all risk groups, whereas only 16.5% of high-risk patients received radiotherapy. The two-year overall survival (OS) for the whole cohort was 37.6%: 94.1%, 81.6%, and 66.7%, respectively, for the very-low-risk, low-risk, and intermediate-risk groups and 27.6% for the high-risk group (P < 0.001, 95% CI). The median survival time for the whole group was

OS rates are encouraging for a middle-income country, although economic disparities continue to impact negatively on outcomes. Study results will form the basis for the development of national protocol and continued advocacy to rectify disparities.