Current Challenges of Asian National Children's Cancer Study Groups on Behalf of Asian Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Group

Abstract

In Asia, a few countries have a long and established history of collaborative clinical trials successfully formed national children's cancer study groups, but many still do not have such groups. The process of forming national children's cancer groups is fraught with many hurdles, which varies among the countries. One of the basic requirements for running clinical trials is an affordable health care system in which most of the children with cancer can receive the proposed treatment. The health insurance coverage for children with cancer varies from <20% to as high as 100% among Asian countries, and the operation of clinical trials must also be adjusted accordingly. Shortage of research personnel is common, including medical, nursing, research coordinators, and data managers. The establishment of the Asian Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Group aims to provide a good platform for promotion of international clinical trials in the Asian countries.

AML in the elderly—A global view

“…One approach to improve treatment outcome is the establishment of cooperative clinical study groups, either regional, national or international. 54,55 The formation of leukaemia treatment centres will require the definition of minimum standards for participation in trials. These include the availability of the principle drugs used in the protocols, pre-existing transfusion medicine services to guarantee adequate availability of platelets and other blood derivatives, a haematology laboratory capable of performing advanced fluorescence microscopy, a central laboratory for cytogenetic and molecular genetic analyses, the ability to report data and participate in meetings using web-based tools.…”

“…But whether these centres can reach out to the non‐academic hospitals that might treat the majority of patients, at least those unfit for intensive therapy and allo‐SCT, has not been studied. One approach to improve treatment outcome is the establishment of cooperative clinical study groups, either regional, national or international 54,55 . The formation of leukaemia treatment centres will require the definition of minimum standards for participation in trials.…”

Pediatric cancers and family financial toxicity in the Philippines: insights for Southeast Asia and similarly resourced settings

“…In neighboring countries like India, enrolling children with cancer has been challenging, with less than 5% enrolled since 2015. 22 Efforts should focus on maintaining an updated Philippine Health Research Registry, which may benefit from including a discussion of costs that patients and families may face (or costs that may be alleviated) as seen in Malaysia. 17 , 23 The WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG) runs CenterWatch, which displays actively recruiting clinical trials in order of location, and maintains pages listing trials in the Philippines.…”