COVID-19 and pediatric oncology: Where do we go from here?
COVID-19 has impacted the entire world. Beyond its staggering toll on the health and survival of multitudes of people, COVID-19 will continue to impact many more millions of people given the need to restructure life in response to an evolving pandemic. Adaptation to change requires flexibility in approaches for continuing pediatric oncology care and research, some of which may be carried forward given their potential longer-term value as measured by improved efficiency, decreased burden to families, cost reduction, and ultimately new growth opportunities (Table 5 ).
The health crisis caused by COVID-19 warrants both scientific collaboration and reallocation of resources to contain its spread and to eradicate the disease entirely. However, other significant health care crises remain and potentially may be exacerbated by COVID-19, both directly by the virus itself or indirectly by the changes in life that the virus has caused. To this end, pediatric cancer remains the primary disease-related cause for mortality in children. Therefore, we must not lose focus on the need to continue to support, both scientifically and financially, research that is vital to discovering potential cures for pediatric cancer both to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 and to leverage the lessons learned to make us better than before. Not fulfilling these missions jeopardizes the future of children with cancer, their families, and their communities.