When ‘watch and wait’ works best
Researchers from Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) have found that as many as 50 percent of young girls treated for germ cell ovarian tumors might be spared chemotherapy using a “watch and wait” strategy to determine if the follow-up treatment is needed. In contrast to the current practice of administering chemotherapy to all patients following removal of these rare tumors, researchers said the study demonstrated that treatment could safely be delayed and given only if the cancer recurred. Data from the trial involving 25 young women ages 9 to 16 are being presented at the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) in Boston on Friday (Oct. 22). The study was led by Lindsay Frazier, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, pediatric oncologist at DF/CHCC, and chair of the Germ Cell Tumor Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group. “I personally think that not giving chemotherapy to half the...