Cancer Committee

Introduction

The mission of the APSA Cancer Committee is to educate the APSA membership on the current approaches to the treatment of children with cancer, as directed by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and to update the membership on new COG protocols and changes to existing ones. The mission also includes informing the membership of recent advances in pediatric oncology, both clinical and basic science. The primary vehicles for accomplishing this mission of education are the APSA newsletter, the APSA-COG website link, the COG session at the annual APSA meeting and the quadrennial pediatric surgical oncology conference held together with our international colleagues in the International Society of Pediatric Surgical Oncology (IPSO) at the Spring APSA meeting.

The members of the committee are listed on the Cancer Committee page on apsapedsurg.org.

Handbooks

Each handbook identifies APSA members who have extensive knowledge with this disease process and contains a one-minute review (to refresh just before an operation), staging materials, surgical management and other necessary information on this cancer. These handbooks are provided by the APSA Cancer Committee and will be periodically updated to provide current standards of care for treatment. These handbooks are not meant to replace involvement with Children’s Oncology Group protocols and continued participation in COG activities is strongly encouraged.

Link to the APSA cancer committee handbooks.

Pediatric Surgical Oncology Newsletters

March 2024 Surgical Aims

Videos

video link to the APSA 2020 virtual meeting Cancer committee session on Complicated Wilms Tumor

video link to the APSA 2020 virtual meeting Cancer committee session on Technical Challenges in Rhabdomyosarcoma

video link to Muscle Sparing Thoracotomy

Additional Resources

Cancer committee articles of interest

NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) PDQ® Pediatric Cancer Treatment Summaries

PDQ (Physician Data Query) is NCI’s comprehensive source of cancer information. It contains cancer information summaries on a wide range of cancer topics, drug information summaries on many cancer related drugs and drug combinations and dictionaries of general cancer terms, drug terms and genetics terms. PDQ summaries area available for many common pediatric malignancies.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) document evidence-based, consensus-driven management to ensure that all patients receive preventive, diagnostic, treatment and supportive services that are most likely to lead to optimal outcomes. While generally geared to adult patients, these guidelines are a useful resource when caring for children and adolescents with malignancies which more commonly effect adults. NCCN Guidelines are free to access but do require you to create a log in.

Pediatric Surgery Not a Textbook

Designed for both practicing and in-training pediatric surgeons, the Pediatric Surgery Not a Textbook (NaT) is updated quarterly so you will know what strategies, techniques and procedures are being used right now. It is written for pediatric surgeons by pediatric surgeons and contains learning objectives, images, videos and links to continuous certification CME and the medical literature. To take advantage of CME you also need to be subscribed to ExPERT. Access to the Pediatric Surgery NaT is by subscription.

Additional resources by tumor type

Adrenocortical carcinoma

Adrenal Cortical Tumors in the NaT

Adrenocortical Tumor Registry

NCI PDQ – adult

NCI PDQ – pediatric

Breast cancer

Breast Disorders in the NaT

NCI PDQ

NCCN Guidelines – adult

Colorectal cancer

NCI PDQ – pediatric

NCCN Guidelines – adult colon

NCCN Guidelines – adult rectal

Ewing sarcoma

Ewing Sarcoma of the Chest Wall in the NaT

NCI PDQ

Gastric tumors

Gastric Tumors in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult

Germ cell tumors

​​Germ cell tumors handbook

NCI PDQ

Sacrococcygeal Teratoma in the NaT

Germ Cell Ovarian Tumors in the NaT

Testicular Tumors in the NaT

Hepatic tumors (nonhepatoblastoma)

Liver tumors handbook

Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the NaT

Hepatoblastoma

Liver tumors handbook

Hepatoblastoma in the NaT

NCI PDQ

Lymphoma

Lymphoma in the NaT

NCI PDQ – Hodgkin

NCI PDQ – non-Hodgkin

Melanoma

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult

NCI PDQ

Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma handbook

Neuroblastoma in the NaT

NCI PDQ

Neuroendocrine tumors

NCCN Guidelines – adult

NCI PDQ – pediatric

Nonrhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma

Nonrhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult STS

NCI PDQ

Ovarian cancer (nongerm cell)

Ovarian Tumors in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult

NCI PDQ - pediatric

Osteosarcoma

Pulmonary Metastatic Disease in the NaT

NCI PDQ

NCCN Guidelines – adult

Pancreatic tumors

Pancreatic Tumors in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

NCI PDQ

Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma

Adrenal Medullary Tumors in the NaT

NCI PDQ – pediatric

Pleuropulmonary blastoma

NCI PDQ

PPB Registry webpage

Renal cell carcinoma

Renal Cell Carcinoma in the NaT

Renal tumors handbook

NCI PDQ – adult RCC

NCI PDQ – adult Transitional Cell

NCI PDQ – pediatric

NCCN Guidelines – adult

Renal tumors (nonWilms, nonrenal cell carcinoma)

Mesoblastic Nephroma in the NaT

Renal tumors handbook

NCI PDQ

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma handbook

Rhabdomyosarcoma in the NaT

Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Chest Wall in the NaT

Paratesticular Rhabdomyosarcoma in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult STS

NCI PDQ

Testicular cancer (nongerm cell)

Testicular Tumors in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult

NCI PDQ – pediatric

Thyroid cancer

Malignant Thyroid Tumors in the NaT

NCCN Guidelines – adult

NCI PDQ – pediatric

Wilms tumor

Renal tumors

Wilms Tumor in the NaT

NCI PDQ – pediatric

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