UROLOGIC ONCOLOGY
Advances and Answers in Pediatric Health
For a pediatric urologist , surgeon or oncologist confronted with a renal tumor they ’ re not used to seeing , education from 14 of the continent ’ s most experienced pediatric urologists and surgeons can prove extremely valuable .
“ Subspecialty expertise and volume in a rare clinical scenario like this drives optimal patient outcomes ,” he says . “ A protracted lapse in caring for these cases can make it easy to forget critical nuance in patient care and how to effectively interface with the other important disciplines . These are crucial skills that can affect quality of care .”
Equally beneficial is having access to surgeons who ’ ve operated on some of the most complex and rarest of these rare-type cases . How about a bilateral renal tumor that required a complex bilateral partial nephrectomy to remove and cure the cancer while also preserving kidney function ? Or maybe metastatic kidney cancer presenting in adolescence where it was difficult to know whether it was an adult cancer ( renal cell carcinoma ) or a pediatric kidney cancer ( Wilms tumor )?
By regularly underscoring standards of care , sharing knowledge and being easily accessible , Dr . Cost and the committee hope to bolster surgeons ’ confidence and , in turn , patients ’ outcomes .
“ I ’ m extremely fortunate to work at Children ’ s Colorado where I have the support to focus in a subspeciality area like this ,” says Dr . Cost . “ Working to grow our Surgical Oncology Program here really set me up to earn this complement position with COG . My ultimate goal is to positively affect as many of these kids as I can , and I ’ m going to be much more impactful if I can also provide support to patients that I don ’ t personally have the chance to operate on .” •
“ Subspecialty expertise and volume in a rare clinical scenario like this drives optimal patient outcomes .”
NICK COST , MD
Co-Director of the Surgical Oncology Program , Children ’ s Hospital Colorado
Associate professor of surgery-urology , University of Colorado School of Medicine
Surgical Discipline Lead , Renal Tumor Committee , Children ’ s Oncology Group
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