Assessment of provider perspectives on otoprotection research for children and adolescents: A Children’s Oncology Group Cancer Control and Supportive Care Committee survey

Orgel E, Freyer DR, Ullrich NJ, Hardy KK, Thomas SM, Dvorak CC, Esbenshade AJ. Assessment of provider perspectives on otoprotection research for children and adolescents: A Children’s Oncology Group Cancer Control and Supportive Care Committee survey. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020 Nov;67(11):e28647. doi: 10.1002/pbc.28647. Epub 2020 Sep 4. PubMed PMID: 32886425; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7808411.

Cisplatin-induced hearing loss (CIHL) is a common and debilitating toxicity for childhood cancer survivors. Understandingprovider perspectives is crucial to developing otoprotectionstudies that are both informative and feasible. Two international trials (ACCL0431, SIOPEL6) investigated the drug sodium thiosulfate (STS) as an otoprotectant, but definitive interpretation of the findings of these trials has been challenging. Adoption of STS has therefore been uneven and provider perspectives on its role unknown. The Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Cancer Control and Supportive Care Neurotoxicity Subcommittee therefore conducted asurvey of providers at COG institutions to determine perspectives on pediatric otoprotectionpractices and researchsurrounding three major themes: (1) prevalence of routine use of STS with cisplatin-based regimens, (2) application of audiometry to cisplatin therapy, and (3) preferred modalities for otoprotection research.