Pediatric urologic oncology in the 21st century: where we stand and where we’re headed
In comparison to other surgical specialties, the field of pediatric urologic oncologic surgery has a relatively brief—albeit eventful—history. Our current care pathways owe a great debt to a series of benchmark advances in anesthesia, perioperative care, pharmacotherapy, and surgical technique that have occurred over the past several decades. As anesthesia has become increasingly safe and as radiotherapy and chemotherapy have become increasingly effective, cures have become increasingly commonplace and our collective clinical focus has evolved from improving treatment efficacy to reducing patient morbidity. Accordingly, the goals and limitations of our field have constantly needed to be defined and re-defined in order to keep up with the ever-faster tides of change in the care of our young patients.
In times of rapid change, it is sometimes useful to pause for a moment and reflect on what we have long known, what we have recently learned, and what we have yet to fully understand. To that end, this issue of Translational Andrology and Urology is devoted to the contemporary practice of pediatric urologic oncology. Some of the best and brightest clinicians who take care of pediatric urologic oncology patients have graciously agreed to share their expertise and insights on a range of topics. These include reviews of hereditary cancer syndromes, imaging guidelines, oncofertility, surgical conundrums, and advances in chemotherapy for germ cell tumors, Wilms tumor, and rhabdomyosarcoma, in addition to a pair of reviews highlighting specific oncology challenges in patients with spina bifida or disorders of sex development. We sincerely hope that this special issue will be a useful addition to our readers’ practice and to the pediatric urologic oncology literature.
Acknowledgments
Funding: None.
Footnote
Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Translational Andrology and Urology for the series “Pediatric Urologic Malignancies”. The article did not undergo external peer review.
Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tau-2019-pum-13). The series “Pediatric Urologic Malignancies” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. JSW serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Translational Andrology and Urology from Jun 2019 to May 2021. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
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