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For health professionals and researchers

This page provides health professionals and researchers with information about children’s cancer.

This page provides health professionals and researchers with information about children’s cancer. Health professionals also help children with cancer and their families find information and support. This section includes links to more details about children’s cancer for health professionals and researchers.

Cancer information and guidelines

Australian guidelines

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) maintains the Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines portal. The portal links to evidence-based guidelines for use in Australian health care settings. You can search the list by keywords.

There are no current Australian clinical practice guidelines for children’s cancer. NHMRC adds new guidelines to the portal as they are published.

Victorian Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service has published the Victorian paediatric oncology care pathways for health services and professionals.

International evidence-based guidelines
Guidelines for survivors of childhood cancer
Cancer information

The United States National Cancer Institute has detailed information for health professionals in its PDQ® Cancer Information Summaries. These summaries include sections on: 

  • anatomy and histology
  • clinical presentation and diagnosis
  • classification and prognosis
  • treatment options and current clinical trials
  • outcomes and late effects.

 

Professional development

Access evidence-based courses, learning activities and resources from:

  • Cancer Australia’s Cancer Learning site – includes learning activities, shareable resources and information on cancer care
  • eviQ Education – e-learning courses, rapid learning, videos and podcasts
  • Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service – face-to-face and e-learning courses
  • Canteen – resources and interest groups for health professionals working with young people who have cancer
  • Beyond Blue – resources to help identify and manage depression and anxiety in young people.

 

Talking to children about cancer

By talking to a child about their cancer diagnosis and treatment, health professionals play an important role in helping a child understand the experience. Children who have learnt that they have cancer will be confused and frightened and may need a lot of support to help them cope. 

The child’s family will provide the main support, but as a health professional, there are many ways you can help. 

Be inclusive

Include the child in conversations about their disease. This can: 

  • help to build their trust and confidence in you and your health care colleagues
  • reduce their fears
  • provide a good role model for families.
Reassure them

Reinforce the messages that: 

  • they haven't done anything wrong that has caused them to get cancer
  • they can't pass the disease on to their siblings or friends. 

See Living with children's cancer.

Explain what is happening

Explain as clearly as you can:

  • what their cancer is
  • what the tests and treatment will involve
  • what will happen to their bodies, such as hair loss
  • what will happen to their feelings, such as having less energy or feeling sad
  • how long these effects will last. 

Cancer words for kids can help you explain things using words that children can understand.

Familiarise the child with any equipment that will be used in their tests and treatment. Working with play therapists/child life specialists can help with this as they often have examples of equipment that might be used and have good skills in explaining these things to children.

If they are undergoing tests and treatment in a hospital, show them: 

  • where they will be sleeping
  • where their parents and siblings will be
  • where they can play.
Encourage questions

Encourage the child to ask questions and express any fears. Answer their questions simply and honestly. Reassure them that they can keep in touch with their family and friends during their treatment. 

Use the same principles to talk with the siblings of children with cancer.

More information

How a child understands cancer has useful information on how children of different ages understand and cope with cancer. 

Other useful resources are in Talking to families about children's cancer.

 

Talking to families about children's cancer

Health professionals who treat children with cancer become deeply involved with the child and their family. This requires great skill and sensitivity. 

Understand the family’s needs

Health professionals can be enormously helpful to a child and family throughout their cancer journey. It is useful to gain an understanding of the family’s situation, including such matters as:

  • whether they have support and what their support networks are like
  • work and practical matters
  • whether they need to travel a long way for appointments
  • whether they need culturally specific information and/or cultural support.
Provide clear information

Parents are usually the main support for the child with cancer. Parents are keen to have clear information about: 

  • what cancer their child has
  • its prognosis
  • tests
  • treatment. 

Siblings and other family members also need clear information. Cancer words for kids can help you explain things using words that children can understand.

It is important to talk things through with the family, give them an opportunity to voice their concerns, and answer their questions simply and honestly. These conversations may become more difficult if a child’s treatment is not progressing as hoped, and the chance of cure reduces. Continuing to talk with families at this time is still really valuable. Walking Alongside: for health professionals is a Redkite video resource that shares the insights of health professionals who regularly care for children whose cancer cannot be cured.

Help to find more information

Give families extra information if they need it. 

Not all families will want to look up more information on the internet. They may not be able to, or they might not know which sites are credible. Help them find the information they need by giving them links or printing out pages for them.

The Children’s Cancer website has information for:

Other links and resources for families include:

Immunisation during and after cancer

Health professionals preparing to vaccinate a child with cancer should always speak to the child’s oncologist before proceeding. This includes any child who:

  • is having cancer treatment
  • has recently finished cancer treatment. 

Children with cancer should have some vaccines to protect them from diseases. Other vaccines are contraindicated.

Check that the child’s family is fully vaccinated.

Find more information about immunisations during and after cancer treatment from the Australian Immunisation Handbook.

Looking after yourself

Looking after seriously ill children and their families can be a very emotional experience for health professionals. It’s both rewarding and challenging.

Health professionals may find support and resources through their peers, clinical supervisors, Employee Assistance Program (if available), or their professional college or association.

Several organisations have developed resources that enable self-assessment and self-care, and help you to manage burnout: 

  • RACGP – Keeping the doctor alive is a guidebook that provides all medical practitioners with information and resources on strategies for self-care as an essential element of their professional life.
  • Heads Up contains a range of resources for managers, staff and businesses to enable positive workplace mental health.
  • The Black Dog Institute provides education and training for maintaining a healthy workplace. It also provides ways to get help.
  • Tackling depression at work is a low-cost practical guide for employees and managers.

Children's hospitals in Australia

For additional specific information about childhood cancer in Australia, contact any of the major children’s hospitals in your state:

ACT

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

 

Children’s cancer research funding partnerships

Cancer Australia’s national Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme (PdCCRS) provides annual funding for research projects that:

  • reduce the impact of cancer on the community
  • improve outcomes for people affected by cancer. 

The scheme is innovative in that it brings government and other funders together to fund cancer research in Australia. The scheme helps to:

  • coordinate and prioritise cancer research funding at the national level
  • support cancer researchers to collaborate, to build Australia’s cancer research capacity
  • foster consumer participation in cancer research, from design to implementation.

Since its inception in 2007, the PdCCRS has provided a mechanism for collaborative funding of research projects with a focus in childhood cancers. The Fighting Childhood Cancer measure provided additional funding support to research projects with a specific focus on childhood cancers of low survival through the 2017-2019 funding rounds of the PdCCRS.

Organisations that have partnered with Cancer Australia to collaboratively fund children’s cancer research in the PdCCRS and other initiatives under the Fighting Childhood Cancer measure include:

Cancer Australia's Support for Cancer Clinical Trials program funds Australia's 14 Multi-site Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups. This includes the Australian and New Zealand Children's Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) whose primary purpose is to improve outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer and associated blood diseases through quality research, facilitation of innovative paediatric clinical trials and promotion of best practice in clinical care.

 

Professional bodies

The following professional organisations in Australia are involved with children’s cancer:

Last updated 31 January 2025
Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

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