Pediatric oncology 2.0—shaping the future with precision

Excerpt

Achievements in pediatric oncology serve as a role model of what can be attained regarding cure and survival rates with multimodal conventional therapeutic strategies. Dose intensification and density oriented at the maximum tolerable, as well as strict adherence over the last 40 years to sequential series of treatment optimization trials available for most pediatric cancer entities in an internationally collaborative setting were the cornerstones of these achievements. Nevertheless, not every child with cancer nor every entity fares well with this strategy. Treatment burden in terms of amount delivered as well as duration have not changed the output for about 10–20% of children and adolescents overall. We need to think out of the box—most probably through integration of the concepts of personalized medicine: personalized not only by further improvement of risk stratification, as we have already for many years, but personalized based on individualized target definition. Oncologic precision medicine has also arrived in pediatric cancer care. …