Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD, for her recent publication of a State-of-The-Art review in Pediatrics. Bailey is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, as well as the Co-Director of the Mario Lemieux Institute for Pediatric Cancer Research. 
The review, titled, “Innovations In Cancer Treatment Of Children,” was co-written alongside Lauren Helms, MD, from the the Department of Pediatrics of Michigan Medicine, Allison E. Guimera, MD, from UCLA, and Katherine A. Janeway, MD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Together, the co-authors write about the overall improvements of pediatric cancer outcomes, though recognize the ongoing challenges in the disparity of outcomes across cancer types and patients. These disparities largely highlight the need for increased access to care, including clinical trials and advanced testing for patients, as well as the need to improve the communication between pediatric oncologists, pediatricians, survivorship clinics, and and adult primary care.
Ultimately, Bailey and her co-authors identify five major domains in pediatric oncology: reducing toxicity, cancer biology, novel therapies, detection and monitoring, and access to care, in highlighting both recent advances and areas for improvement.
To simplify the overall goals of pediatric oncology is to “break” the survival plateau for some types of cancers, and to minimize toxicity for all children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer.
In this important State-of-The-Art review, Bailey and her co-authors highlight ways in which the ongoing innovations in the field can continue to move pediatric oncology forward while also closing the unfortunate gaps in care and treatment among types of cancers and patients. As the authors note, “children with cancer need excellent longitudinal care both during and after completion of cancer directed therapy. Continuing to strengthen the partnership and communication between the patient’s pediatric oncology team and primary care pediatrician is essential in this mission.”
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