Qatar Foundation institution building pathways to best possible cancer treatment and care for young patients
Doha, Qatar, 23 January 2018: Sidra Medicine recently welcomed a delegation from the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Renal Tumour Study Group (SIOP-RTSG) to Qatar.
This is the first SIOP-RTSG Pathology Panel meeting to be held in Qatar presided by Professor Gordan Vujanic, Senior Attending Physician in Pediatric Pathology at Sidra Medicine. Prof. Vujanic is also the Chair of the SIOP-RTSG Pathology Panel and globally oversees SIOP trials and studies in renal tumors.
SIOP is the only global multidisciplinary society dedicated to pediatric and adolescent cancer. The SIOP approach to renal tumors is to treat them pre-operatively with chemotherapy, with the aim of reducing the risk of tumor rupture and inducing better stage distribution as well as assessing the tumor’s response to treatment. The approach can result in the need for less extensive post-operative therapy without compromising positive outcomes.
Under the leadership of Dr. Catherine Cole, Division Chief of Pediatric Oncology, who will be working closely with Prof. Vujanic and Dr. William Mifsud, Junior Attending Physician in Pediatric Pathology, Sidra Medicine will treat children with renal tumors according to the latest SIOP protocols.
Prof. Vujanic said, “While tumours in children are rare, renal tumors are amongst the most common solid tumors. Current therapies are associated with an increased risk of long-term disability, including infertility, deafness, second cancers, restricted growth and heart disease. By following SIOP protocols, it means that our team here at Sidra Medicine can offer the best possible customised care for our young patients not only in Qatar but patient cases that are referred to us internationally. It will also minimize the need to travel abroad for consultations as we will be collaborating with global experts including physicians, pathologists and scientists in the field of pediatric renal tumours.”
Prof. Vujanic is also the leading expert on the effect of pre-operative chemotherapy on renal tumors and is the main author of several important papers that greatly affected the way these tumors are treated around the world, including classification which is the base for treatment.
There are currently over 400 SIOP centers across the world with more than 1500 members worldwide including doctors, nurses, other health-care professionals, scientists and researchers.
Through Prof. Vujanic’s role as the Chair of SIOP-RTSG Pathology Panel, Sidra Medicine has become one of two leading centers globally for pediatric renal tumor diagnostic pathology, together with Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
“It was an honour to welcome my colleagues from SIOP-RTSG to Qatar who were very impressed with our teams and services at Sidra Medicine. It was an opportunity to review our cases, and discuss best practices for staging tumors, define new prognostic features and review trial results. The three-day meeting also served as an important discussion point in terms of how every child who develops a renal tumor in Qatar, Europe and elsewhere in the world can be treated based on SIOP protocols,” concluded Prof. Vujanic.
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