Ethical Challenges in Pediatric Oncology Care and Clinical Trials

Abstract

The care of pediatric cancer patients is a vast departure from cancer care of adults. While the available treatment modalities—chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery—are the same, the diseases, care-delivery, and outcomes differ greatly. And just as ‘children are not just little adults,’ pediatric bioethics occupies a distinct place within the broader field of bioethics. In this chapter, we will begin with an introduction to fundamental principles and frameworks for understanding ethical issues in pediatrics, highlighting the triadic nature of medical decision-making between a physician, the child-patient, and the child’s parent as the surrogate decision-maker. We will then delve into further details of how these principles and frameworks shape the care of children with cancer, examining specific ethical challenges commonly encountered by pediatric oncologists. We will traverse this landscape by examining issues involving (a) informed consent; (b) research involving children; (c) end of life; (d) genetic and genomic testing; and (e) professionalism. We also examine ethical challenges in clinical research, in children and more broadly. While not an exhaustive exploration of the myriad ethical issues one might encounter in pediatric cancer medicine and clinical trials, this chapter provides readers with a foundation for further reading.