Paediatric Radiotherapy

This objective is pursued on a daily basis through a strictly multidisciplinary approach to care, by developing and adopting institutional treatment protocols in which the Unit is a national and international ‘leader’, representing the best and most innovative knowledge in the field of paediatric oncology in Europe.
The facility is:

• actively engaged in the development of new therapeutic strategies as a member of the AIEOP (Italian Association of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology) and SIOP (International Society of Paediatric Oncology) working groups;
• the Coordinating Centre for the organisation and implementation of quality control procedures for radiotherapy across the country, procedures that are mandatory for participation in the new SIOP European protocols for the treatment of medulloblastoma, ependymoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and neuroblastoma;
• at national level, it serves as a referral centre for children undergoing cancer treatment in other hospitals where specific expertise in paediatric radiotherapy or particular services—such as anaesthetic support for the sedation of younger children during radiotherapy procedures—are not available.

This facility also acts as a national advisory body for indications for particle therapy at CNAO for paediatric patients, which is organised through:

• the presence of its own specialists on site;
• the comprehensive management of all paediatric patients from the Foundation, as well as those from the most renowned national hospitals specialising in paediatrics who are treated at CNAO.

The Paediatric Radiotherapy Unit has also established a diagnostic, therapeutic and care pathway in conjunction with the outpatient clinic to monitor long-term radiation-induced toxicity and quality of life.

The Paediatric Radiotherapy Unit is

• the coordinating centre for national and international clinical trials organised by the leading paediatric scientific societies, AIEOP and SIOP  
• the coordinating centre for quality control and review procedures for radiotherapy treatments of paediatric patients in Italy enrolled in SIOP protocols in accordance with good clinical practice (GCP)

In 2011, with the support of the Fondazione Magica Cleme Onlus and thanks to an original idea from two members of the technical staff, the centre produced and published, in collaboration with Cartusia Edizioni, an illustrated book entitled “The Cat Who Lost His Tail”: it is a fairy tale designed to explain radiotherapy to very young children using language that is not technical but emotional, with the aim of helping children feel more comfortable with radiotherapy procedures, gaining their cooperation and thus reducing the need for general anaesthesia during radiation treatment.