This proposal is a request for funding for our continued involvement in the Pediatric Oncology Group (POG).
The aims and objectives are to find better means of management for malignant diseases in children and adolescents, and thus increase disease-free survival rates. The Children's Hospital of Michigan (CHM) provides diagnostic evaluation and multimodal therapy for children throughout the state of Michigan. While there is one other pediatric oncology facility in the state, the hematology-oncology service sees almost all children and adolescents with malignant disease who live in the greater metropolitan Detroit area, and also sees large numbers of such children referred from other parts of the state (and from Canada) regardless of their ability to pay. Until 1979, the oncology service at CHM remained """"""""independent"""""""". In September 1979, the CHM oncology team joined the pediatric division of the Southwest Oncology Group. We felt at that time (and still do) that association and participation in such a cooperative study group would be of mutual benefit, and that more effective therapeutic regimens for children with malignant disease could be developed. When POG was formed in January 1981, we joined that group, which appears to have even greater potential for development of better treatment regimens for childhood malignant disease. At the time of referral and/or admission to CHM for possible malignancy, each child is seen and evaluated by the appropriate oncology team members. Following appropriate diagnostic evaluation, each child is presented and discussed at the Tumor Board, which meets weekly (or more frequently when necessary) and is attended by pediatric oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, surgeons, surgical subspecialists, and radiotherapists. A plan of action is outlined for each child's management. All such children are registered with POG and, whenever judged appropriate, children are entered on POG treatment protocols. By our participation in such a cooperative children's cancer group, our investigators are able to share new information and ideas and gain access to new multimodal therapy regimens and investigational drugs which hopefully provide the best available care for these children.
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