Young adult survivors of childhood cancer and parents of children with cancer are invited to participate via webcast in a workshop on Chemotherapy-Induced Hearing Loss in Pediatrics, taking place in the DC metro area on September 13, 2018, a conglomerate of childhood cancer organizations holding the event announced. This half-day event follows the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) model for externally-led Patient Focused Drug Development meetings and serves to inform the agency’s regulatory decision making in pediatric oncology.

The pediatric patient population with chemotherapy-induced hearing loss represents a segment of the cancer survivor community with a severe burden of disease with great unmet medical and psychosocial need. This workshop, taking place during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, will bring together more than 100 survivors, caregivers, FDA representatives, medical professionals, and pharmaceutical representatives to explore this condition further with the goal of better understanding the non-medical impact that current medical treatments cause, and the need to do better for children with cancer.

This FDA-approved, externally-led meeting is being organized and presented by the following national childhood cancer organizations: Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy; Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation; Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation; and Momcology.

The agenda will feature a series of facilitated panel and audience discussions, and a webinar with live polling focused on providing the FDA and other stakeholders with patient views on key issues such as:

  • Burden of the condition (physical, emotional, financial issues) impacting daily health-related quality of life;
  • Assessments of current and potential future treatments;
  • Benefits that patients with chemotherapy-induced hearing loss are looking for in treatments and the risks they are willing to assume in return for more advanced interventions;
  • Participation in clinical trials and ideas on trial design to make them more appealing to people with chemotherapy-induced hearing loss; and
  • Resources to enhance quality-of-life for those who have chemotherapy-induced hearing loss.

The meeting will take place from 1-5 pm EST at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Hyattsville, MD. Interested participants are invited to register for the live webcast by visiting www.childhoodcancerpfdd.org/participate. Webcast participants will have opportunities to weigh in via surveys and discussion questions throughout the meeting.

This workshop is made possible through generous sponsorships from Decibel Therapeutics, Fennec Pharma, Frequency Therapeutics, Novartis, Otonomy, Sensorion, and Spiral Therapeutics.

Source: Chemotherapy-Induced Hearing Loss in Pediatrics workshop