A recent study led by Mass General Brigham has explored ways to improve the quality of life for children with advanced cancer. The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, looked at whether regular electronic surveys about symptoms and well-being, combined with feedback and specialized pediatric palliative care (SPPC), could make a difference for young patients.
"We show that integrating routine electronic feedback with palliative care has the potential to ease suffering and enhance well-being in pediatric cancer patients," said Veronica Dussel, MD, MPH, associate research scientist in the Department of Pediatrics at Mass General Brigham for Children.
Palliative care aims to reduce suffering by managing symptoms like pain, nausea, or fatigue—issues often seen as normal parts of cancer treatment. While this approach is standard for adults with advanced cancer, its use among children remains inconsistent.
The study was a randomized controlled trial involving 154 children aged two years and older from five pediatric cancer centers across the United States. Children in the control group received standard oncology care. Those in the intervention group received additional support through SPPC, which included extra check-ins and personalized recommendations based on weekly electronic symptom reports completed by both patients and their parents.
After 16 weeks, both patients and parents noted improvements in quality of life among those who received the intervention compared to their own baseline assessments. In contrast, smaller improvements were reported in the control group.
"Electronic tools can help patients more comfortably report on their symptoms and quality of life, and our results show that electronic surveys are most powerful when they trigger action, not just monitoring," said Joanne Wolfe, MD, MPH, physician-in-chief at Mass General Brigham for Children.
Despite these positive trends, researchers found that improvements did not surpass what is considered a "minimally clinically important difference." They suggested this might be due to variations in cancer types among participants and differences between clinical sites conducting the trial. The team emphasized that further studies with larger participant groups are needed to confirm these findings.
"Our results show that integrating early palliative care is promising, but requires consistent delivery to be effective," said Wolfe. "Study sites with better adherence to the palliative care protocol saw more clinically meaningful benefits, showing that implementation matters."
