Childhood cancer survivorship and late effects: The landscape in India in 2020. Issue 9 (10th July 2020) - Arora, Ramandeep Singh
Abstract: Survivorship care is a major area of focus in the holistic management of childhood cancer with current knowledge and information almost exclusively from high‐income countries. In this review, we summarize the state of scientific knowledge, service delivery, advocacy initiatives, and research efforts in this field in India. Twenty‐one single‐center studies published until today (20 in the last decade) confirm some of the well‐documented issues in childhood cancer survivors and highlight the high prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection in our survivors. Heterogeneity in methodology, outcome metrics, and quality precludes drawing further conclusions, and the ongoing multicenter Indian Pediatric Oncology Group study would address this. Besides the usual model of follow‐up clinics in hospital settings, innovative models of service delivery led by not‐for‐profit organizations are being developed. Advocacy initiatives driven by survivors and support groups are also under way. All of these portend a promising future.