Klin Onkol 2004; 17(Suppl 1): 88-91.
Summary: Quality assessment remains an issue in pediatric oncology. Given the relative rarity and life threatening potential of those diseases, vast majority of children with cancer is being treated in clinical trials. Cancer clinical trials are designed to study the effectiveness of particular anti-cancer strategies, such as promising new drug combinations, by carefully monitoring and analyzing how patients respond to treatments. For children with cancer, participation in clinical trials significantly increases survival rates, but the treatment institution remains one of the most powerful predictors. Limited number of certain criteria makes quality assessment is pediatric oncology feasible, but the result interpretation should be performed cautiously by duly qualified people.
