REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Neuro-Oncology and Neurosurgical Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Supportive Care in Global Pediatric OncologyView all 5 articles
Sub specialization and Centralization of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Services: A Strategy to Improve Outcomes in Low-Resource Settings
Provisionally accepted
- 1Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida, United States
- 2Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
- 3Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
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Background: Subspecialization and centralization increase the quality of care in many medical subspecialties. It is expected to be standard of care in high-income countries. However, studies addressing the effect of subspecialization and centralization on the quality of pediatric neuro-oncology care in low-resource settings are lacking. Methods: We determined the impact of subspecialization and centralization of pediatric neuro-oncology services on quality of care, survival outcomes, and quality of life by searching the Medline/PubMed literature database to identify relevant articles. We conducted this search using multiple English terms and keywords. Results: Pediatric brain tumors are rare, and the care of pediatric neuro-oncology patients is complex and requires a multidisciplinary team. Established pediatric neuro-oncology programs greatly increase patient survival, outcomes, quality of care, and hospital volume. Barriers to centralization may include the distance to travel and the financial burden of that travel, which could lead to underserved populations. Conclusions: Subspecialization and centralization of pediatric neuro-oncology services improves quality of care and patient outcome. More prospective research in this area is needed to determine the true impact of subspecialization and centralization in pediatric neuro-oncology in low-resource settings.
Keywords: Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, subspecialization, Centralization, LMIC (low and middle income countries), Neuro Oncology
Received: 26 Apr 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Baker, Bhat K, Moreira and Quaddoumi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ibrahim Quaddoumi
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