GBA healthcare research - PÄD-ONKO-PALL - S3 guideline "Palliative care for children and adolescents with cancer"
- Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Monika Führer
- Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital
- Funding: 2021 bis 2024
Around 2,000 children and adolescents are newly diagnosed with cancer every year. The highly intensive treatment is associated with a high burden for the young patients and their families. In Germany about 400 of these young patients die from their disease each year despite considerable progress in treatment, often after years of treatment.
Studies have shown that an early integration of palliative care can improve the quality of life of patients with advanced stages of cancer and their families. Therefore, affected children and adolescents should be offered the option of palliative care while they are still receiving therapy targeted towards their cancer. A new guideline aims to contribute to this by improving the quality of palliative care for children and adolescents with cancer in Germany. Another important goal of the new guideline is to strengthen the treating physicians in all care structures involved - in treatment of the two most common distressing symptoms pain and shortness of breath, as well as in dealing with pre-planning discussions. In addition, the guideline is intended to facilitate optimal and early involvement of specialized palliative care services.
To this end, the PÄD-ONKO-PALL project will first identify the clinically relevant questions. By means of literature research and in subsequent expert conferences, treatment recommendations for the new guideline will then be developed. To this end, the project will be funded over two and a half years with a total of approximately 392,000 euros.
If successful, the burden on children and adolescents affected by advanced cancer and their families will be reduced, thereby improving their quality of life and social involvement.
Source: GBA Innovationsfonds