Yorkshire treatment plan helps young cancer patients during coronavirus crisis

The programme is a collaboration by researchers in York and Australia and identifies when young cancer patients with a fever can be treated and supported at home.

Dr Bob Phillips, from the University of York, is leading the push to roll out the programme in the UK.

He said:“It is early days, but the simple and robust system is already popular with families who have trialled it in Leeds, London, and Newcastle".

Children undergoing cancer treatment face an increased risk of developing febrile neutropenia, a fever with low numbers of a white blood cells which are important in fighting infections. Febrile neutropenia may require hospital admission for antibiotics, but the international collaboration is working to manage suitable cases at home.

Dr Philips said of the 32 children who have presented with febrile neutropenia at Leeds Teaching Hospital so far, nine have gone home with support and an antibiotic treatment plan within a day, compared to a usual minimum hospital stay of three days.

He said families have "embraced the development".

Dr Philips added: "They absolutely want to get out of hospital quicker. It means that we don’t do unnecessary tests on kids and just annoy them, and they actually do better at home.

"The more we show it works across different hospitals in different countries, the more robust it is because it’s experiencing variation and being effective."

A roll out in the UK is supported by the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG).

It follows on from the creation of the Australia, UK and Switzerland rule (AUS-rule) which helps doctors decide which children with febrile neutropenia are suitable for home management using antibiotics and temperature monitoring.

The AUS rule looks at platelet and white cell counts and chemotherapy intensity.

Led by experts at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, in Australia, the AUS-rule has already been successfully deployed in several of the country's hospitals including the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Dr Gabrielle Haeusler, the programme lead in Australia, said: "Until now we couldn’t differentiate between the lower risk and the higher risk kids – we’ve treated them all the same.

"The AUS-rule allows lower risk kids to be treated in the comfort of their own home.

She added: "We are currently in the process of scaling up the program across Australia so more children with cancer can benefit from this research."

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