Role of medical staff in treatment of pediatric cancer in the Department of Radiation Oncology—Building an optimal team

Abstract

Radiation therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment, as is the treatment of pediatric cancer. However, the number of patients is on the increase, and more time is required as radiation therapy becomes more precise. Under such circumstances, it has become difficult to treat pediatric cancer with sufficient time. It is also an important issue how to treat pediatric cancer, coordinate with medical staff, and build an optimal radiation therapy team. This time, anesthesiologists, medical radiologists, nurses, and child life specialists gave lectures from their respective perspectives and discussed how to address the above problems. Treatment and care for pediatric and adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer is not complete within the radiation therapy team, but it is necessary to provide a comprehensive team-based medical treatment across multiple departments and multiple occupations depending on the patient’s situation. It was confirmed that a multidisciplinary medical team was required to collect expertise and provide the best treatment and care for a common goal as one team.