SWITZERLAND

Paediatric oncologist(s) involved in early drug development:

• Dr. Manuel DIEZI, CHUV Lausanne
• Dr. Nicolas GERBER, Kinderspital Zuerich

Medical oncologist involved in early drug development:

• Prof. Solange PETERS, CHUV Lausanne

Contact

Carole LECINSE

ITCC Project Manager/Accelerate FAIR Group coordination

carole.lecinse@gustaveroussy.fr

What does this theme represent for your country?

Pediatric Oncologist:

Adolescents are treated and followed by pediatric oncologist up to 18 years. Most protocols used in adult oncology have a lower age limit for inclusion of 18 years and children and adolescent are de facto excluded from innovative treatments studies conducted in the adult population that could be of benefit for them. Most of the time, no developmental pharmacology reasons can justify such exclusion criteria. Pediatric and medical oncologists in Switzerland have strong interactions and share the vision that the adolescent population should be offered the possibility to be included in studies with adapted criteria for lower age limit inclusion.

Medical oncologist:

Adolescents are treated and followed like pediatric patients until the age of 18. Unfortunately, they suffer from diseases that can be assimilated to adult cancers, often representing rare and life-threatening entities. These tumors would require the standards of care applied to adult medicine, and more importantly these adolescents and young adults would benefit from the clinical-trials related innovations that adult patients might envisage and hope for.

Cancer in adolescents represents a challenge. We face here several unmet needs – aiming at improving outcome, offer long term disease control and eventually prolong survival. Access to immunotherapy would be an excellent example there.