American Society of Clinical Oncology Pushes To Remove Barriers For Pediatric Oncology Clinical Trials
A new position statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is aimed at making it easier for children and teenagers with cancer to join clinical trials. Clinical trials test new, life-saving treatments, but researchers face major hurdles when trying to include younger patients. Currently, only 4% of federal cancer research money goes toward childhood cancers, and many trials are only available at big city hospitals making it tough for rural or low-income families to participate. Additionally, strict age limits often block teenagers from joining adult trials even though their bodies are biologically mature enough to handle the same treatments.
To fix these issues ASCO is pushing for several major changes to help young patients get better care. First, they want drug companies and regulators to let kids aged 12 and older into adult cancer trials since their bodies process medicine similarly to adults. Second, they are calling for more government funding to support research for the hundreds of different types of childhood cancers. Finally, they want to expand these trials into local community hospitals and provide financial help for travel and lodging, so families don’t have to travel long distances to access experimental, potentially life-saving treatments.
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