Effects of a high-intensity psychosocial intervention among child-parent units in pediatric oncology.

AIM: To compare the efficacy of a high-intensity psychosocial intervention with standardized usual care in countering psychosocial complexity among child-parent units in a pediatric oncology setting. METHODS: Two hundred pediatric oncology patients and their parents were recruited from Italian hospitals. A total of 81 child-parent units were assigned to the high-intensity psychosocial intervention and 119 child-parent units to standardized usual care. Psychosocial factors were assessed before and 1 year after intervention to measure efficacy. RESULTS: More improvements over time were observed in the high-intensity intervention group of child-parent units compared to the standard intervention group. CONCLUSION: An intensive, structured, and tailored high-intensity intervention positively affects the psychosocial factors of child-parent units. Patients and families should have access to intensive psychosocial support throughout the cancer trajectory.

Growth impairment after TBI of leukemia survivors children: a model- based investigation.

BACKGROUND: Children receiving Total Body Irradiation (TBI) in preparation for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) are at risk for Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), which sometimes severely compromises their Final Height (FH). To better represent the impact of such therapies on growth we apply a mathematical model, which accounts both for the gompertzian-like growth trend and the hormone-related 'spurts', and evaluate how the parameter values estimated on the children undergoing TBI differ from those of the matched normal population. METHODS: 25 patients long-term childhood lymphoblastic and myeloid acute leukaemia survivors followed at Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Division, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital (Turin, Italy) were retrospectively analysed for assessing the influence of TBI on their longitudinal growth and for validating a new method to estimate the GH therapy effects. Six were treated with GH therapy after a GHD diagnosis. RESULTS: We show that when TBI was performed before puberty overall growth and pubertal duration were significantly impaired, but such growth limitations were completely reverted in the small sample (6 over 25) of children who underwent GH replacement therapies. CONCLUSION: Since in principle the model could account for any additional growth 'spurt' induced by therapy, it may become a useful 'simulation' tool for paediatricians for comparing the predicted therapy effectiveness depending on its timing and dosage.

FLAG-liposomal doxorubicin (Myocet) regimen for refractory or relapsed acute leukemia pediatric patients.

Despite the success in treating the majority of children with newly diagnosed acute leukemia, children with relapsed or refractory disease are an exceptionally difficult group of patients to cure. We assessed the combination of fludarabine with cytarabine and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (FLAG) and nonpegylated liposomal doxorubicin (Myocet) in children with either acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) refractory to first-line therapy or who had relapsed after risk-tailored chemotherapy. We treated 35 patients with FLAG-Myocet. The median age at treatment was 9 years and 7 months (range, 1 to 18 y). The 94% of ALL patients (16/17) and the 61% AML patients (11/18) achieved complete remission after FLAG-Myocet. A partial response was observed in the 17% of AML patients (3/18). Twenty-eight of 35 (80%) patients received hematopoetic stem cell transplantation in remission induced by FLAG-Myocet regimen. The ALL and AML overall survival at 3 years after FLAG-Myocet is 33% and 38%, respectively. The probability of ALL and AML event-free survival at 3 years after FLAG-Myocet is 33% and 40%, respectively. The probability of ALL and AML disease-free survival at 3 years after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is 19% and 58%, respectively. Nonhematological toxicity was remarkably low, while almost all patients showed severe hematological toxicity. FLAG-Myocet is an efficient and a well-tolerated regimen that allows nearly all patients to undergo hematopoetic stem cell transplantation. FLAG-Myocet proved to be safe in terms of acute cardiac toxicity although particular care must be taken to reduce infectious complications due to severe myelosuppression. The promising results shown in our study need to be confirmed by larger and possibly randomized trials.

Prospective bone ultrasound patterns during childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Bone impairment is a well-known complication in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors but less is known about bone dynamics during ALL therapy. We longitudinally assessed by Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) skeletal modifications during this treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four newly diagnosed ALL children underwent bone measurement by QUS parameters BTT (Bone Transmission Time) and AD-SoS (Amplitude-Dependent Speed of Sound), mainly reliant on bone density and cortical thickness, respectively. Measurements were performed at diagnosis, and 6, 12, and 24 months thereafter. The occurrence of skeletal complications such as fractures, vertebral collapse, osteonecrosis, and osteopenia was related to measurement outcome. RESULTS: A rapid deterioration of bone properties measured by BTT and AD-SoS was evident in the first semester of therapy (p<0.001). Subsequently, the next measurements were characterized by progressive uncoupling of the two QUS parameters (p<0.001). These were both significantly reduced at the end of therapy (p<0.001). Twelve subjects with in-treatment skeletal complications displayed an almost two-fold decrease of both parameters (p<0.001). BTT decreasing more than 1 Standard Deviation (SD) over 6 months of therapy was able to predict skeletal complication occurrence (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This report represents the largest longitudinal cohort systematically submitted to bone condition assessment from the beginning to the end of therapy for childhood ALL. Bone deterioration occurs early and persists throughout therapy, consistent with bone properties uncoupling. This pattern possibly reflects an initial impairment of both mineral density and cortical thickness with a subsequent recovery of this latter. QUS permits an early detection of bone deterioration and related skeletal complications in childhood ALL.