Led by the Senior Clinical Nutrition Specialist of Boston Children’s Hospital, Erin Gordon, the webinars aimed to educate doctors, nurses, and medical students from Yangon Children’s Hospital (YCH) and Mandalay Children’s Hospital (MCH) in Myanmar. A total of 25  participants joined the sessions including nurses, doctors, and postgraduate medical students.

The first session delved into the crucial topic of nutrition for patients with mucositis. Mucositis, a complication of some cancer therapies in which the lining of the digestive system becomes inflamed, is a condition experienced by over 50% of childhood cancer patients that restricts the ability to eat and drink. As such, the risk of malnutrition is increased; thereby worsening responses to treatment, lengthening hospital stays, increasing abandonment rates and the risk of postoperative complications and ultimately decreasing survival rates. The webinar discussed preventative strategies to reduce the severity of mucositis, including the introduction of soft and nutrient-dense diets, oral supplements, nasogastric tubes (NGTs), and ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs).

The second session discussed the Neutropenic Diet which has been the dominant dietary recommendation for patients with neutropenia. For neutropenic patients with a reduced number of white blood cells, a limited ‘low bacteria’ diet has been recommended since the 1960s, although there is no scientific consensus as to its benefits. Rather than limiting the dietary choices of patients, as is recommended in the Neutropenic Diet, the webinar stressed the importance of a varied, high-quality diet and the health benefits of prebiotics and probiotics during and after treatment.

Such knowledge is vital in safeguarding patients from potential complications and optimising their treatment outcomes. The knowledge we share about childhood cancer determines how we tackle it. By circulating evidence-based practices and tackling critical topics, such webinars empower doctors, nurses, and medical students and enhance their capacity to provide improved care to young cancer patients, both in Myanmar and throughout resource-scarce nations globally.

“We’ve observed that more than half of the newly diagnosed childhood cancer patients in YCH are malnourished. Malnourishment is a major contributing factor for the complications of treatment of childhood cancer. Therefore, supportive management including nutrition build up is critical for the children with cancer. Enteral nutrition support is the only option in Myanmar where total parental nutrition is not feasible. Hence understanding of appropriate nutritious supplementation in children based on local context is very important. These 2 webinars covered and highlighted this information to first line care providers of childhood cancer in Myanmar.(YCH+MCH). The information provided is useful in day to day practice.(Thanks to Erin Gordon and World Child Cancer)

– Dr. Aye Aye Khaing; Paediatric Oncologist at Yangon Children’s Hospital, Myanmar  and the Medical Lead of World  Child  Cancer Myanmar.