Navai Shoba A, Mahajan Priya, Venkatramani Rajkumar
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology Oncology, Houston, Texas.
Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Curr Opin Pediatr. 2025 Feb 1;37(1):56-58. doi: 10.1097/MOP.0000000000001421. Epub 2024 Nov 28.
Due to the infrequent nature of rare pediatric cancers, rigorously studied treatment algorithms are usually nonexistent, and experience with a given tumor may be limited at a single institution. Development of treatment plans for these populations often requires extensive literature review and outreach to experts at other institutions. National or international virtual tumor boards provide a streamlined, collaborative approach to discussing diagnosis and management of these patients through dissemination of collective experience and knowledge. This review highlights current virtual tumor boards for rare pediatric cancers and their benefit as a resource for patient care.
Over the last several years, national virtual tumor boards sponsored by government and academic institutions and cancer foundations have expanded access of pediatric oncologists to rare tumor expertise and guidance. Recommendations from these tumor boards often have an impact on medical decision making, and some serve as a resource for enduring educational reference materials.
National virtual tumor boards are a valuable resource to clinicians caring for patients with rare pediatric tumors. These conferences provide real-time management advice from peers and subject matter experts and provide essential educational content not easily accessible in other formats.
由于儿童罕见癌症发病率低，通常不存在经过严格研究的治疗方案，而且单一机构对特定肿瘤的治疗经验可能有限。为这些患者制定治疗方案往往需要广泛查阅文献并与其他机构的专家交流。国家或国际虚拟肿瘤委员会通过传播集体经验和知识，提供了一种简化的协作方法来讨论这些患者的诊断和管理。本综述重点介绍了当前针对儿童罕见癌症的虚拟肿瘤委员会及其作为患者护理资源的益处。
在过去几年中，由政府、学术机构和癌症基金会赞助的国家虚拟肿瘤委员会扩大了儿科肿瘤学家获取罕见肿瘤专业知识和指导的途径。这些肿瘤委员会的建议往往会对医疗决策产生影响，有些还作为持久教育参考资料的资源。
国家虚拟肿瘤委员会是照顾儿童罕见肿瘤患者的临床医生的宝贵资源。这些会议提供同行和主题专家的实时管理建议，并提供其他形式不易获得的重要教育内容。
