Telemedicine in Pediatric Oncology: Randomized Trial Shows Safety During Intensive Chemotherapy

Telemedical approaches are safe even in the intensive treatment of pediatric cancer and can provide meaningful relief for affected families. This is shown by results of the KULT-SH study, funded by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), which were recently published in the journal JCO Oncology Practice.

The randomized controlled trial was initiated by Prof. Denis Schewe, now Head of the Pediatric Oncology Center at NCT/UCC Dresden, and conducted over several years at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH). The study demonstrates that replacing in-person hospital visits with telemedicine follow-up visits is not associated with an increased complication rate, even in highly vulnerable children and adolescents undergoing intensive chemotherapy.

At the same time, the data highlight a clear practical benefit of telemedicine in pediatric oncology: among 55 children enrolled in the study, telemedical visits prevented 337 hospital visits and saved approximately 42,000 kilometres of travel. For families, this meant a substantial reduction in time burden and more flexibility in everyday life, especially for siblings and for maintaining professional responsibilities. Overall, telemedical care can help ease an already demanding treatment phase and stabilize the family environment.

UKD / Michael Kretzschmar — The health services research group “Onco Wizz,” with Dr. Jakob Thiel (top row, left), Prof. Denis Schewe (right), as well as project coordinators Julia Zeh and Mandy Gotter, and Dr. Anne Schedel (bottom row, from left to right).

“These results provide important impetus for the further development of pediatric oncology care,” says Denis Schewe. “In the future, additional telemedical models could follow, for example through home-based diagnostics or decentralized care structures in which qualified staff support families at home while remaining closely connected to specialized centers via telemedicine.” This could make it possible to deliver high-quality, increasingly centralized pediatric oncology care across a wider geographical area.

The KULT-SH study, “Safety of Telemedicine Follow-Up Visits in Children With Cancer Undergoing Intensive Chemotherapy: Results From the Randomized KULT-SH Trial,” also provides an important foundation for further research projects in Dresden: https://www.uniklinikum-dresden.de/de/das-klinikum/universitaetscentren/kinderonkologisches-zentrum/forschung/versorgungsforschung.

Current follow-up projects include:

TelKo-Hem-DD, a telemedicine study with home-based blood count measurement, funded through UKDD and the Foundation for University Medicine.
Ped-Onko-SAX, a project to develop a digital care platform for children with cancer in Saxony, funded under the ERDF program “Innovative Approaches in the Health and Care Economy.”
KOMNET-SAX – Pediatric Oncology Mobile Network, an innovative model for community-based care, which is also supported by the G-BA in the concept development phase.

Scientific contact:
Prof. Denis Schewe
Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, specializing in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Head of the Pediatric Oncology Center
Head of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
kinderonkologie@ukdd.de
Pediatric Oncology Center: www.ukdd.de/kio