Addressing the Psychosocial Needs of Children with Cancer
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced H.Res. 262, Supporting efforts to raise awareness, improve education, and encourage research and treatment of the psychosocial needs of children diagnosed with a childhood cancer.
Childhood cancer is the number one cause of death by disease of children - more than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combines. This life-changing diagnosis is terrifying, painful and heartbreaking for the innocent young lives affected and their families. A family's whole world changes in an instant and healthcare professionals treating the child must not only make special efforts to help and understand the child's physical care needs but also the psychological and emotional ones as well. Pediatric cancer is a family disease, since every person in the family system is impacted by the diagnosis, its treatment, and its prognosis. Therefore, effectively treating the child also means acknowledging, considering, and addressing the needs of family members throughout the cancer journey.
There is a great need for increased support and awarenessof the psychosocial needs of the children with cancer and their families. As we await more effective medications and therapies to be developed to fight pediatric cancers and reduce long-term effects in our children, there are tangible, practical, and obtainable goals that can be implemented now to help standardize and coordinate the psychosocial care for children and their families.
H.Res. 262 expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that a greater effort needs to be made to raise awareness of this painful issue and encourage efforts to address the psychosocial needs of children and their families battling pediatric cancer.
The Childhood Cancer Caucus applauds Dr. Harold Varmus, the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for announcing the appointment of Dr. Greg Aune, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, to NCI's Council of Research Advocates.
On September 30th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it has awarded 15 grants totaling more than $19 million to boost the development of medical device, drug, and biological products for patients with rare diseases, with at least a quarter of the funding going to studies focused solely on pediatrics. $1.6 million will go toward a Phase 2 Study of Poly-ICLC for the Treatment of Pediatric Low Grade Gliomas, the most common type of brain tumor in children.
On September 19, Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced a new pediatric trial for children with cancer. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice Program (MATCH) trial will enroll children with advanced cancers that have progressed on standard therapy.
