Implementation science in pediatric oncology: A narrative review and future directions

Abstract

Implementation science (IS) has garnered attention within oncology, and most prior IS work has focused on adult, not pediatric, oncology. This narrative review broadly characterizes IS for pediatric oncology. It includes studies through 2020 using the following search terms in PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Cochrane: "implementation science," "pediatric," "childhood," "cancer," and "oncology." Systematic review was not performed due to the limited number of heterogeneous studies. Of 216 articles initially reviewed, nine were selected as specific to IS and pediatric oncology. All nine examined oncologic supportive care, cancer prevention, or cancer control. The supportive care focus is potentially due to the presence of cooperative study groups such as the Children's Oncology Group, which efficiently drive cancer-directed therapy changes through clinical trials. Future IS within pediatric oncology should embrace this ecosystem and focus on cancer control interventions that benefit patients across multiple cancer types and patients treated outside cooperative group studies.

Keywords: implementation science; pediatric cancer; pediatric oncology; supportive care.

Figure.. PRISMA diagram

The PRISMA diagram shows the manuscripts reviewed and stages of exclusion. Two hundred fifteen unique articles were assessed with nine included in the final review. A subset of manuscripts were reviewed by two authors and there was 83% agreement on articles to review the full text (5/6) and 100% agreement for articles for final inclusion or exclusion (6/6).