Pulmonary complications in children with solid tumors

Dr. S.M.P.J. Prevaes; Dr. M. van Grotel – Princess Máxima Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Since 2015, all children in the Netherlands with a tumor in the abdomen or chest cavity are treated in the Máxima. As a result, we notice that there are children with severe pulmonary complications, as a side effect of the treatment. The treatment of these children with cancer is highly specialized and this is taken care of by the specialists of the Máxima, together with radiation doctors from the UMCU, and in the case of these serious pulmonary complications there is intensive cooperation with the pediatric pulmonologists from the WKZ. This cooperation has already led to the creation of protocols that indicate how to treat these patients well; patients with, for example, high blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) and inflammatory reactions after radiation, (radiation pneumonitis and toxic pneumonitis).

The aim is to perform a pilot project to gain a better understanding of the factors that play a role in the development of these serious pulmonary complications and death due to these conditions, in order to recognize them earlier, and to be able to prevent serious complications; through literature research and a retrospective analysis of the first 10-year cohort at the Maxima. This is expected to involve 80-100 children.

Data provided by this project will serve in the future (follow-up research) as the basis for a prospective KIKA application regarding pulmonary complications in children with a solid tumor.