This collection of paediatric oncology thesis topics is arranged by disease group so that a candidate can move from a broad interest to a question one unit can actually answer within a single thesis period. It is written for MD and DNB Paediatrics candidates, and for DrNB and DM candidates in paediatric haematology and oncology, who need a dissertation built on the children already registered in the unit rather than on a cohort that has to be created first. Every design here runs on records and investigations that exist because the child was treated — registration and staging studies, marrow morphology, blood counts, cultures, response assessment and follow-up visits — so nothing on this page depends on sequencing, on a research-only scan or on funding that must be raised before work begins. Candidates searching for paediatric cancer research topics rather than dissertation titles will find the same material useful, since the questions are framed as answerable studies and not as headings. Once a title has been settled with the guide, the next step is the paediatric oncology protocol, and from it the shorter paediatric oncology synopsis that goes to the university or to the National Board.
Last reviewed and updated: August 2026
📌 Updated for 2026–2027 MD and DNB Paediatrics and DrNB Paediatric Oncology admissions
Each section was reviewed against the risk stratification, staging and supportive care practice now routine in Indian paediatric oncology units, and against what a single centre can realistically complete and analyse inside one thesis period.
- What the topics need: a working paediatric oncology or paediatric haematology service with routine counts and peripheral smears, marrow morphology, blood cultures, cross-sectional imaging performed for care, and a follow-up register that records a date of last contact. Flow cytometric measurable residual disease and cytogenetics appear only in topics where a unit already performs them for treatment decisions.
- What is not required: next-generation sequencing, research-only computed tomography or radionuclide imaging, an extra marrow aspirate or lumbar puncture taken for the study alone, or a licensed instrument for anything other than the quality-of-life questions, where a licence and a validated translation are needed.
- Where publication potential sits: treatment abandonment and its determinants, nutritional status at diagnosis as a modifiable prognostic factor, febrile neutropenia microbiology and resistance patterns, and supportive care outcomes. Data from Indian and other lower and middle income units remain thin in all four areas, so a clean single-centre series is publishable even when the sample is modest.
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- Introduction / Synopsis
- Research Question
- Aim of the Study
- Primary Objective
- Secondary Objectives
- Materials and Methods
- Inclusion Criteria
- Exclusion Criteria
- Sample Size Calculation
- Methodology
- Statistical Analysis
- Ethical Considerations
- Review of Literature
- References
- Gantt Chart / Study Timeline
- Patient Information Sheet
- Consent Form
- Data Collection Form
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Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
- Clinical and Haematological Profile of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Initial Presentation to a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Age-Wise Distribution and Presenting Features of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of B-Cell and T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Initial Total Leucocyte Count with Clinical Characteristics among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Haematological Profile of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Haemoglobin, Leucocyte and Platelet Parameters among Different Immunophenotypic Types of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence and Severity of Anaemia among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Haemoglobin Levels with Clinical Presentation among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Severity of Thrombocytopenia among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Platelet Count with Bleeding Manifestations among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Children with Hyperleukocytosis in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Children with and without Hyperleukocytosis at Diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Hepatomegaly and Splenomegaly among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Organomegaly with Initial Leucocyte Count among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Lymphadenopathy among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia with and without Mediastinal Mass: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Biochemical Profile of Children with Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Elevated Lactate Dehydrogenase among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels with Tumour Burden among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Serum Uric Acid Profile among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Serum Uric Acid with Leucocyte Count and Organomegaly in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Nutritional Status of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Underweight, Stunting and Wasting among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Nutritional Status with Haematological Parameters among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Immunophenotypic Profile of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical and Laboratory Features among Immunophenotypic Subtypes of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Cytogenetic and Molecular Abnormalities among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Selected Cytogenetic Abnormalities with Clinical and Haematological Features of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Infection Profile among Children Presenting with Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Haematological, Biochemical and Immunophenotypic Profile of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and Other Childhood Leukaemias
- Clinical and Haematological Profile of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Morphological and Immunophenotypic Subtypes of Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Initial Leucocyte Count with Clinical Severity among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Severity of Anaemia among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Thrombocytopenia among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Thrombocytopenia with Bleeding Manifestations among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Clinical Profile of Hyperleukocytosis among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Haematological Parameters among Different Subtypes of Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Immunophenotypic Profile of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Cytogenetic Abnormalities among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Cytogenetic Risk Groups with Clinical Characteristics of Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Laboratory Profile of Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Coagulation Abnormalities among Children with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Coagulation Parameters with Bleeding Manifestations in Paediatric Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia and Other Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Subtypes among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Profile among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels with Leucocyte Count among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Nutritional Status among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Nutritional Status among Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Haematological Profile of Paediatric Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia at Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Spleen Size with Leucocyte Count among Children with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Laboratory Profile of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in Young Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Haematological Profile of Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukaemia and Conventional Acute Leukaemia among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Frequency and Pattern of Extramedullary Manifestations among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Infection Profile among Children Presenting with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Haematological and Immunophenotypic Spectrum of Non-Lymphoblastic Childhood Leukaemias: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Lymphomas in Children
- Clinical and Histopathological Profile of Lymphoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Age and Sex Distribution of Paediatric Lymphomas at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Hodgkin Lymphoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Histological Subtypes of Hodgkin Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Different Histological Subtypes of Paediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Pattern of Lymph Node Involvement among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Constitutional Symptoms with Disease Distribution among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Nutritional Status of Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma at Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Nutritional Status with Clinical Stage at Presentation among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Haematological Abnormalities among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate with Clinical Characteristics among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels among Children with Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Histopathological Subtypes of Paediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of B-Cell and T-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Burkitt Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Tumour Location with Clinical Presentation in Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Lymphoblastic Lymphoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Burkitt Lymphoma and Lymphoblastic Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence of Mediastinal Mass among Children with Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Children with Lymphoma with and without Mediastinal Involvement: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Abdominal Manifestations among Children with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Imaging Profile of Abdominal Lymphoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase with Tumour Burden among Children with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Bone Marrow Involvement among Children with Lymphoma at Initial Evaluation: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Haematological Parameters among Children with and without Bone Marrow Involvement in Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Infection Profile among Children Presenting with Lymphoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Health-Related Quality of Life among Children and Adolescents Receiving Treatment for Lymphoma at the Time of Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical, Histopathological and Imaging Spectrum of Paediatric Lymphomas: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Brain Tumours and Central Nervous System Malignancies
- Clinical and Neuroimaging Profile of Central Nervous System Tumours among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Histopathological Types of Paediatric Brain Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Supratentorial and Infratentorial Brain Tumours among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Tumour Location with Presenting Neurological Symptoms among Children with Brain Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Posterior Fossa Tumours among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Medulloblastoma and Pilocytic Astrocytoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Medulloblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Medulloblastoma Tumour Size with Neurological Manifestations among Children: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Paediatric Gliomas: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Low-Grade and High-Grade Gliomas among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Ependymoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Ependymoma and Medulloblastoma among Children with Posterior Fossa Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Craniopharyngioma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Endocrine Abnormalities among Children with Craniopharyngioma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Tumour Size with Visual Abnormalities among Children with Craniopharyngioma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Optic Pathway Glioma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Brain Tumours Presenting with Seizures among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Tumour Location with Seizure Presentation among Children with Brain Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Headache among Children with Central Nervous System Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Headache Characteristics with Tumour Location among Children with Brain Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence of Raised Intracranial Pressure Features among Children with Brain Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Papilledema with Tumour Location and Ventricular Dilatation among Children: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Hydrocephalus among Children with Posterior Fossa Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Children with Brain Tumours with and without Hydrocephalus: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Nutritional Status among Children with Central Nervous System Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Nutritional Status among Children with Brain Tumours and Haematological Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Neurocognitive Profile of School-Aged Children Receiving Treatment for Brain Tumours at the Time of Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- School Performance and Educational Difficulties among Children with Central Nervous System Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Health-Related Quality of Life among Children with Central Nervous System Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical, Neurological, Endocrine and Imaging Spectrum of Paediatric Central Nervous System Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Neuroblastoma, Wilms Tumour and Other Abdominal Solid Tumours
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Neuroblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Age-Wise Distribution of Clinical Manifestations among Children with Neuroblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Primary Tumour Site with Clinical Presentation among Children with Neuroblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Haematological Profile of Children with Neuroblastoma at Initial Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Anaemia with Disease Burden among Children with Neuroblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Profile among Children with Neuroblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase with Tumour Burden among Children with Neuroblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Children with Neuroblastoma Presenting with Bone Pain: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Localised and Metastatic Neuroblastoma at Initial Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Nutritional Status among Children with Neuroblastoma at Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Wilms Tumour among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Unilateral and Bilateral Wilms Tumour among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Tumour Size with Clinical Presentation among Children with Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence of Hypertension among Children with Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Blood Pressure with Tumour Size among Children with Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Haematological and Renal Function Profile among Children with Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Renal Function among Children with Wilms Tumour and Other Abdominal Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Abdominal Masses with Malignant Aetiology among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Neuroblastoma and Wilms Tumour among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Diagnostic Utility of Clinical and Imaging Features in Differentiating Neuroblastoma from Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Hepatoblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels with Tumour Characteristics among Children with Hepatoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Hepatoblastoma and Other Paediatric Liver Masses: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Paediatric Hepatoblastoma and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Adrenal Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Malignant and Non-Malignant Adrenal Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Germ Cell Tumours Presenting as Abdominal or Pelvic Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Serum Tumour Marker Profile among Children with Abdominal Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Biochemical and Imaging Spectrum of Paediatric Abdominal Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Bone Tumours, Soft-Tissue Sarcomas and Germ Cell Tumours
- Clinical and Radiological Profile of Primary Malignant Bone Tumours among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Osteosarcoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Anatomical Sites of Osteosarcoma among Paediatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Tumour Size with Presenting Symptoms among Children with Osteosarcoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Profile among Children and Adolescents with Osteosarcoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Serum Alkaline Phosphatase with Tumour Burden among Paediatric Osteosarcoma Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Ewing Sarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Primary Tumour Site with Clinical Characteristics among Children with Ewing Sarcoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Extremity and Axial Ewing Sarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Nutritional Status among Children with Malignant Bone Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Nutritional Status among Children with Bone Tumours and Haematological Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Histopathological Profile of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Anatomical Sites of Paediatric Soft-Tissue Sarcomas: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Rhabdomyosarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Embryonal and Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Primary Tumour Site with Clinical Presentation among Children with Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Head and Neck Rhabdomyosarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Genitourinary Rhabdomyosarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Head and Neck and Genitourinary Rhabdomyosarcoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Histopathological Profile of Germ Cell Tumours among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Gonadal and Extragonadal Germ Cell Tumours among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Tumour Marker Profile among Children with Germ Cell Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Alpha-Fetoprotein and Beta-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Levels with Histological Type of Paediatric Germ Cell Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Sacrococcygeal Germ Cell Tumours among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Benign and Malignant Germ Cell Tumours among Paediatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Mediastinal Germ Cell Tumours among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Pulmonary Metastatic Lesions at Initial Evaluation among Children with Bone and Soft-Tissue Sarcomas: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Metastatic Patterns among Osteosarcoma, Ewing Sarcoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical, Histopathological and Imaging Spectrum of Paediatric Bone, Soft-Tissue and Germ Cell Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Retinoblastoma and Other Paediatric Solid Tumours
- Clinical and Ophthalmological Profile of Retinoblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Age at Presentation and Clinical Characteristics of Retinoblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Unilateral and Bilateral Retinoblastoma among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Leukocoria among Children with Retinoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Delay in Presentation with Clinical Extent of Retinoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Family History and Bilaterality among Children with Retinoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Extraocular Extension in Retinoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Children with Retinoblastoma with and without Extraocular Extension: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Nutritional Status among Children with Retinoblastoma at Presentation: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Caregiver Awareness of Early Signs of Retinoblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Histopathological Profile of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Thyroid Malignancies among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules among Paediatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Paediatric Renal Tumours other than Wilms Tumour: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Paediatric Liver Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Benign and Malignant Liver Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Paediatric Ovarian Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Germ Cell and Non-Germ Cell Ovarian Tumours among Adolescent Girls: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Tumour Marker Profile among Paediatric Ovarian Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Testicular Tumours among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Germ Cell and Non-Germ Cell Testicular Tumours among Paediatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Imaging Profile of Mediastinal Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Malignant and Non-Malignant Mediastinal Masses among Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Anatomical Compartment with Histological Diagnosis among Paediatric Mediastinal Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Adolescent Malignancies Presenting to a Paediatric Oncology Unit: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Malignancy Patterns among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Distribution of Rare Paediatric Solid Tumours at a Tertiary Care Oncology Centre: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical Profile of Malignant Tumours Associated with Genetic Cancer Predisposition Syndromes among Children: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Family History of Malignancy among Children with Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Histopathological Spectrum of Rare Paediatric Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Infections, Febrile Neutropenia and Treatment-Related Complications
- Clinical and Microbiological Profile of Febrile Neutropenia among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Underlying Malignancies among Children Presenting with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Febrile Neutropenia among Children with Haematological and Solid Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Absolute Neutrophil Count with Clinical Severity among Children with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Microbiological Spectrum of Bloodstream Infections among Children with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Blood Culture Isolates among Paediatric Oncology Patients with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms among Culture-Positive Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections among Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical Profile of Fungal Infections among Immunocompromised Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Bacterial and Fungal Infections among Children with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of C-Reactive Protein with Culture Positivity among Children with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Association of Procalcitonin with Blood Culture Positivity among Paediatric Oncology Patients with Fever: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Comparative Evaluation of C-Reactive Protein and Procalcitonin among Children with Febrile Neutropenia: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio with Infection among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Clinical Profile of Pneumonia among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Respiratory Infections among Neutropenic and Non-Neutropenic Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Clinical and Microbiological Profile of Urinary Tract Infection among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Oral Mucositis among Children Receiving Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Oral Mucositis Severity with Neutropenia among Children Receiving Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Oral Health Status among Children Receiving Treatment for Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Chemotherapy-Associated Gastrointestinal Symptoms among Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Gastrointestinal Toxicities among Children Receiving Different Categories of Anticancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Liver Function Abnormalities among Children Receiving Anticancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Current Chemotherapy Exposure with Liver Enzyme Abnormalities among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Renal Function Abnormalities among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Renal Function Parameters among Children with Haematological and Solid Malignancies Receiving Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Electrolyte Abnormalities among Children Receiving Anticancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Hyponatraemia among Hospitalised Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Coagulation Abnormalities among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Microbiological and Laboratory Spectrum of Treatment-Related Complications among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Tumour Lysis, Haematological Complications and Supportive Care
- Clinical and Biochemical Profile of Tumour Lysis Syndrome among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Distribution of Underlying Malignancies among Children Presenting with Tumour Lysis Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Initial Leucocyte Count with Tumour Lysis Syndrome among Children with Acute Leukaemia: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Association of Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase with Tumour Lysis Syndrome among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Serum Uric Acid Profile among Children at Risk of Tumour Lysis Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Electrolyte Abnormalities among Children with and without Tumour Lysis Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Renal Function Abnormalities among Children with Tumour Lysis Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Hyperuricemia with Renal Dysfunction among Children with Tumour Lysis Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Severity of Anaemia among Children Receiving Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Anaemia among Children with Haematological and Solid Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence and Pattern of Thrombocytopenia among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Platelet Count with Bleeding Manifestations among Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Blood Component Utilisation Pattern among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Pattern and Indications for Packed Red Blood Cell Transfusion among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Pattern and Indications for Platelet Transfusion among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Blood Component Utilisation among Children with Leukaemia and Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence of Acute Transfusion Reactions among Paediatric Oncology Patients Receiving Blood Components: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Red Cell Alloimmunisation among Multi-Transfused Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Nutritional Status among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Malnutrition among Children with Different Paediatric Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Nutritional Status among Children with Haematological and Solid Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Serum Albumin with Nutritional Status among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Vitamin D Levels among Children with Leukaemia and Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Serum Calcium, Phosphorus and Alkaline Phosphatase Profile among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency among Children with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Appetite and Feeding Problems among Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Oral Mucositis with Nutritional Status among Children receiving Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Pattern of Antimicrobial Use among Hospitalised Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Nutritional, Haematological and Supportive-Care Profile of Children Receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Psychosocial Health, Quality of Life and Paediatric Oncology Care
- Health-Related Quality of Life among Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Quality of Life among Children with Haematological and Solid Malignancies: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Current Treatment Intensity with Quality of Life among Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Association of Nutritional Status with Quality of Life among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence of Anxiety Symptoms among Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents receiving Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms among Children with Leukaemia and Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Physical Symptom Burden with Psychological Distress among Adolescents with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Sleep Quality among Children and Adolescents with Malignancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Pain with Sleep Quality among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Prevalence and Characteristics of Pain among Children receiving Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Pain Severity with Health-Related Quality of Life among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- School Attendance and Academic Difficulties among Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Association of Treatment Burden with School Absenteeism among Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Social and Peer Relationship Difficulties among Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Body Image Concerns among Adolescents receiving Cancer Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Caregiver Burden among Parents of Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Disease and Treatment Characteristics with Caregiver Burden among Families of Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Psychological Distress among Parents of Children undergoing Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Comparative Evaluation of Caregiver Burden among Parents of Children with Leukaemia and Solid Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Knowledge of Childhood Cancer Warning Signs among Parents attending Paediatric Outpatient Services: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Knowledge and Practices regarding Infection Prevention among Caregivers of Children receiving Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Knowledge and Practices regarding Neutropenic Precautions among Caregivers of Paediatric Oncology Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Medication Adherence among Children and Adolescents receiving Oral Anticancer Therapy at the Time of Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Factors Associated with Poor Medication Adherence among Paediatric Oncology Patients receiving Oral Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Financial Burden and Out-of-Pocket Expenditure among Families of Children receiving Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Association of Socioeconomic Status with Treatment-Related Financial Burden among Families of Paediatric Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study
- Awareness of Government Financial Support Schemes among Families of Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Palliative Care Needs among Children with Advanced Malignancy and Their Caregivers at the Time of Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
- Clinical, Nutritional, Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Children Attending a Paediatric Oncology Unit: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Alongside paediatric oncology protocols and synopses, support is also available for departmental presentations, journal club presentations, ethics committee presentations, and posters and oral presentations for medical conferences — for postgraduate residents, board trainees and research scholars across India and the GCC. Prepared by a practising doctor with long experience in medical publishing and thesis supervision.
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Paediatric oncology research outside India
The topics above work as research questions anywhere — what changes is the document the institution expects, and who approves it before data collection begins. The Gulf equivalent of an Indian synopsis is the paediatric oncology research proposal submitted to an institutional review board, and it ordinarily carries three sections an Indian synopsis does not: a Gantt chart, a budget and resources section, and a Declaration of Helsinki statement.
Board and residency programmes — country by country
Saudi Arabia — SCFHS and the Saudi Board. Residency and fellowship training under the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties includes a research project with a set timeline, and the paediatric oncology research proposal is the document prepared at the outset and cleared by the institutional review board before recruitment starts.
United Arab Emirates — DHA, DOH Abu Dhabi and MOHAP. Residents training in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates prepare a paediatric oncology research protocol for their programme and submit it for institutional review board approval before any data are collected.
Qatar — QCHP and Hamad Medical Corporation. A paediatric oncology IRB proposal is reviewed before recruitment, with the ethics section written to the institution's own template rather than a generic one.
Bahrain — NHRA. Trainees turning paediatric oncology research topics into a project need the proposal cleared by their institutional research and ethics committee before fieldwork begins.
Oman — OMSB. Residency programmes under the Oman Medical Specialty Board include a research component, and the paediatric oncology research proposal is the document assessed at the start of it.
Kuwait — KIMS. A paediatric oncology study protocol goes to the institutional committee for approval before the project begins.
Arab Board programmes across the region. The Arab Board carries its own research requirement irrespective of the host country, and the paediatric oncology proposal follows the same structure throughout.
Postgraduate degrees — Malaysia, the Gulf and beyond
Malaysia — MMed, the National Medical Research Register and MREC. A paediatric oncology dissertation proposal for a Master of Medicine programme carried out in a Ministry of Health facility must be registered on the NMRR and approved by the Medical Research and Ethics Committee before the study begins, and the guidance asks for submission four to six months ahead of data collection. Every investigator on the study team registers on the NMRR as well, so the methodology, ethics and team sections are written in far more detail than an Indian synopsis requires.
PhD and Master's candidates elsewhere. University programmes generally require a full paediatric oncology research proposal of roughly 6,000 to 10,000 words, with an extended literature review, a theoretical framework and a detailed methodology chapter.
These are written individually, by a medical doctor, with no artificial intelligence generation and no plagiarism, and revised until the supervisor accepts them.
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🔥 Trending research areas in paediatric oncology for 2026–27
- End-of-induction measurable residual disease. Flow cytometric MRD at day 15 and day 33 is now embedded in the protocols most Indian units follow for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which means the result already sits in the case file. Studies relating MRD to early response, to toxicity and to relapse can therefore be done without new expenditure, provided the protocol states what happens to children in whom the assay was not performed.
- Treatment abandonment as a measured outcome. A formal operational definition has replaced the older habit of writing these children off as lost to follow-up, so abandonment can now be counted, dated and compared between centres. This has opened a class of questions about distance, cost, parental education and interim treatment interruption that were previously unmeasurable.
- Antimicrobial stewardship in febrile neutropenia. Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteraemia is rising in Indian paediatric oncology units at the same time as risk-stratified pathways are moving low-risk episodes to oral and outpatient management. Unit-level microbiology and de-escalation audits answer a question the unit needs answered anyway.
- Survivorship and late effects. The number of children surviving long enough to attend a late-effects clinic is now large enough at tertiary centres to support cross-sectional work, particularly anthracycline cardiotoxicity detected by global longitudinal strain while ejection fraction is still normal, and endocrine and growth outcomes after cranial irradiation.
Protocol and synopsis guidance
What a paediatric oncology protocol must contain
A single named time zero. Almost every outcome in this subject is measured from a starting date, and the protocol must fix that date rather than leaving it to the person abstracting the file. Date of histological or cytological diagnosis and date of first definitive treatment are both defensible, but they are not the same date and a study cannot use one for some children and the other for the rest. Where a child was referred after starting therapy elsewhere, the protocol must state whether that child enters the cohort at all.
Separate definitions for each survival endpoint. Overall survival, event-free survival and relapse-free survival are three different endpoints with three different event lists, and writing that survival will be analysed is not a definition. Overall survival counts death from any cause. Event-free survival is counted from time zero and typically includes induction failure, relapse at any site, death from any cause, second malignant neoplasm and, in most Indian series, abandonment. Relapse-free survival is counted only in children who achieved remission, which makes it a different denominator, not just a different numerator. The protocol should state each event list in full.
An abandonment definition and a tracing procedure. Abandonment is conventionally defined as four or more consecutive weeks of missed scheduled treatment in a child who has not completed therapy and has not been formally referred elsewhere. The protocol must give that definition, must record the date it occurred, and must state in advance whether abandonment will be treated as an event or as censoring. It must also describe the tracing procedure as a procedure: how many telephone attempts, over what interval, and by whom, before a child is classified.
The treatment protocol, named and version dated. Outcomes cannot be pooled across children treated on different regimens without saying so. Where a unit changed its standard protocol during the study window, the changeover date belongs in the protocol as a planned covariate, not as a limitation discovered at the end.
Staging and risk stratification, with the system and edition named. This matters more in paediatric oncology than in most subjects because the same stage label carries different meanings under different systems. Wilms tumour is staged after preoperative chemotherapy under the SIOP approach and at upfront surgery under the COG approach, so stage III describes two different groups of children. Neuroblastoma has a post-surgical staging system and a separate pre-treatment system based on image-defined risk factors. Rhabdomyosarcoma carries a surgicopathological group and a TNM stage which are not interchangeable. For leukaemia, the protocol must state the exact criteria assigning risk group and what is done when cytogenetics or MRD are unavailable, since those results tend to be missing in a non-random subset of families.
Named response criteria and a stated toxicity grading version. Measurable solid disease is assessed by a named response criteria version, lymphoma response by the Deauville five-point scale within a stated framework, neuroblastoma response by the international neuroblastoma response criteria with a named metaiodobenzylguanidine scoring method, and leukaemia remission by morphology together with an explicit MRD threshold. Toxicity requires the grading system and its version number, because grade boundaries have moved between versions.
A follow-up and censoring rule. Every child needs a date of last contact, and the analysis needs a single administrative censoring date. Without both, follow-up duration cannot be computed and no survival curve can be drawn.
Paediatric oncology synopsis versus paediatric oncology protocol
The synopsis is the short document that is submitted; the protocol is the long document the study is actually run from. Universities and the National Board generally ask for a synopsis running to a few pages: title, introduction, review of literature, aims and objectives, methodology, sample size, statistical plan, references and the ethics committee certificate. The protocol behind it carries the case record form, the operational definitions, the analysis plan in full and the procedures.
The difference is sharpest in the methodology section, and paediatric oncology shows why. A synopsis can reasonably say that survival will be estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. A protocol cannot stop there. It has to say which date is time zero, which events count towards each endpoint, what happens to a child who abandons therapy, what happens to a child who dies of a cause unrelated to cancer, how competing risks will be handled, and on what date follow-up is administratively closed. Two candidates can submit identical synopses and produce incompatible results because those decisions were left unmade.
The case record form is a protocol document, not an afterthought. In this subject the form determines whether the study is analysable, because a variable not on the form will not be abstracted and cannot be recovered once the files have gone back to the record room. Staging system, protocol version, risk group and its basis, date of remission, date of relapse, site of relapse, date of abandonment, date of death, cause of death and date of last contact all need their own fields.
Practical sequence. Writing the protocol first and reducing it to a synopsis works. Writing the synopsis first and expanding it later tends to produce a study whose data were collected before the analysis plan existed, which is where most avoidable paediatric oncology dissertations lose their comparison.
Sample size and statistical analysis
In survival work, power comes from the number of events, not the number of children. A retrospective cohort of one hundred and twenty children with eighteen deaths carries eighteen units of statistical information, not one hundred and twenty. The standard event-driven calculation requires roughly sixty-five events to detect a hazard ratio of two at eighty per cent power and a two-sided five per cent level, and considerably more for the smaller hazard ratios that most prognostic factors actually produce. Most single-centre paediatric oncology dissertations will not reach that number, and the honest response is to design the study as a descriptive inception cohort reporting estimates with confidence intervals, and to state in the protocol that comparative testing is exploratory. Retrofitting a comparison of proportions to reach a feasible sample size does not solve the problem, it hides it.
Do not report survival as a simple proportion. Children enter the cohort on different dates and have unequal follow-up, so dividing survivors by total registrations answers no defined question. Kaplan-Meier estimation with the number at risk displayed under the curve, and median follow-up reported by the reverse Kaplan-Meier method, are the minimum. Where curves are compared, the proportional hazards assumption should be checked rather than assumed, because in this subject early treatment-related mortality followed by late relapse produces curves that genuinely cross.
Competing risks need a competing risks method. Death in remission and relapse compete with one another, so estimating the cumulative incidence of relapse as one minus the Kaplan-Meier estimate overstates it. The cumulative incidence function treating death in remission as a competing event is the correct estimator, and the protocol should say which events compete with which.
Episodes clustered within children are not independent observations. Febrile neutropenia, transfusion and admission studies count episodes, and one child contributes several. Analysing episodes as though they were independent narrows confidence intervals that should be wide. Either restrict the analysis to each child's first episode, which is clean and pre-specifiable, or account for clustering through generalised estimating equations. The choice belongs in the protocol, not in the discussion.
Missing risk-group data are usually missing for a reason. Cytogenetics and MRD are more often absent in children whose families could not fund them or who presented late, and those are the same children whose outcomes differ. A complete-case analysis of survival by risk group therefore reports a selected population. The protocol should state the extent of missingness expected and how it will be described, and a candidate who is honest about it writes a stronger paper than one who is silent.
Quality-of-life scores need their own plan. Instrument scores show floor and ceiling effects and are rarely normally distributed, so non-parametric summaries and tests are usually appropriate. Child self-report and parent proxy report are distinct instruments measuring related but non-identical constructs, and comparing one against the other is an agreement analysis, not a validation of either.
Frequently Asked Questions – Paediatric Oncology Thesis Topics (2026–27)
1. How do I choose a paediatric oncology thesis topic my centre can actually finish?
Start from the registration register, not from the literature. Count how many children with the tumour of interest were registered in each of the last three or four years, and how many of those completed at least the induction phase. That number, not the interest of the question, decides what is feasible. For the 2026 admission cycles the practical constraint is that data collection has to close early enough to leave several months for analysis and writing, so the window for prospective accrual is short and most feasible designs are retrospective inception cohorts drawn from existing records with prospective follow-up added.
Then check that the outcome is recorded, not merely available in principle. A question about MRD is only feasible where MRD was actually performed in most children. A question about relapse requires a follow-up register with dates. A question about toxicity requires notes detailed enough to grade. Pulling twenty files at random and attempting to complete the intended case record form from them settles feasibility in an afternoon and is worth doing before the title is registered.
2. Which study designs are accepted for a paediatric oncology thesis?
The retrospective or ambispective inception cohort is the workhorse. Children are identified from the date of diagnosis over a defined past window and followed forward through records, with follow-up extended prospectively to the census date. This design supports survival, relapse, toxicity and abandonment questions and fits a thesis period.
Cross-sectional designs work for status variables, not for outcomes. Nutritional status at diagnosis, microbiological profile of febrile neutropenia episodes, quality of life at a defined treatment phase and late-effects screening in survivors are all legitimate cross-sectional questions. One caution specific to this subject: a cross-sectional sample of children attending oncology follow-up is a survivor-biased sample by construction, so it can describe survivors but cannot describe the disease.
Diagnostic accuracy and agreement studies are accepted where an index test is compared against a stated reference standard applied to all participants, and prospective observational studies of a defined supportive care intervention are accepted where the intervention is already unit policy. Randomised trials are almost never appropriate for a dissertation, both because the events are too few and because randomising treatment in children with cancer at a single centre for a thesis is difficult to justify.
3. What should I settle with my guide before the protocol is written?
Six decisions, all of which change the case record form. Which date is time zero. Which treatment protocol and version defines the cohort, and what is done about children treated before or after a protocol change. Which staging and risk stratification system is used, stated with its edition. Which endpoints are primary and what events count towards each. Whether abandonment is an event or censoring. What the administrative censoring date is.
Two further points that are frequently left open and should not be. Who has authority to access the records and under what agreement, since paediatric oncology files are identifiable and often held in a separate registry. And who will assign the response category where the file is ambiguous, because response assessment involves judgement and a single named assessor blinded to outcome is more defensible than the candidate deciding case by case while the outcome is visible on the next page.
4. What can I do if very few children with my tumour of interest are treated each year?
This is the normal situation outside acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. A tertiary unit may register only a handful of children a year with osteosarcoma, hepatoblastoma or retinoblastoma, which will not support an outcome comparison. Four responses work, in rough order of preference.
Widen the unit of analysis rather than the question. Move from a single tumour to a coherent group where the research question still holds, such as all abdominal solid tumours for a question about delay in presentation, or all children receiving anthracyclines for a cardiotoxicity question. The group must be coherent for the exposure and outcome being studied, not merely convenient.
Change the outcome from event to process. Time from first symptom to registration, completeness of staging, protocol adherence, dose intensity delivered and interval between planned and actual cycles are all measurable in small cohorts and describe the unit's performance without requiring events.
Move to a denominator that is larger than the child. Episodes of febrile neutropenia, transfusion events, admissions and procedures accumulate faster than children do, though the clustering caveat then applies.
Extend the retrospective window rather than accepting a small sample. Ten years of records is often available. The cost is protocol change over the period, which must be recorded and reported rather than ignored.
5. What is the difference between a paediatric oncology synopsis and a paediatric oncology protocol?
The synopsis is submitted, the protocol is used. The synopsis is the summary document the university or the National Board requires, usually a few pages covering the title, background, objectives, methods, sample size, statistical plan, references and the ethics certificate. The protocol is the complete working document containing the case record form, the operational definitions, the full analysis plan and the procedures for data collection, tracing and record access.
In this subject the practical difference is that the protocol has to make the survival analysis decisions the synopsis can leave implicit — time zero, the event list for each endpoint, the handling of abandonment and of death in remission, competing risks and the censoring date. Preparing the protocol first and reducing it to a synopsis is the sequence that avoids collecting data before the analysis is defined.
6. What ethics approval and consent does a paediatric oncology study need?
Institutional ethics committee approval before any data are collected, without exception. Retrospective record-based studies still require approval and are the usual setting for a waiver of individual consent, which the committee grants on a written data security statement. That statement matters more here than in most subjects, because a paediatric cancer diagnosis with an age, a district and a date identifies a child in a small community even after the name is removed. Identifiers should be replaced by a study number at abstraction, with the linking key held separately and destroyed at a stated point.
Guardian consent and child assent for anything prospective. Written informed consent is taken from a parent or legal guardian. Assent is sought from the child from about seven years of age, with written assent from around twelve where the committee requires it, and a child's refusal is respected even where the guardian has consented. The consent document should be in the language the family reads.
No additional radiation, no research-only invasive sampling, and a stated blood volume limit. No computed tomography or radionuclide scan may be performed for the study alone, and no marrow aspirate, trephine or lumbar puncture may be added for research purposes; research samples are taken only from procedures already scheduled for care. Where research-only venepuncture is unavoidable, the protocol states a limit, commonly one per cent of total blood volume in a single draw and three per cent over four weeks, which is roughly 0.8 mL/kg and 2.4 mL/kg, and the total is stated in millilitres for the smallest child eligible.
Separate written consent for photographs and video. This is not a formality in paediatric oncology, where clinical images of leucocoria, proptosis, disfiguring facial or limb tumours and alopecia are the images most likely to be wanted for publication and the ones a family is most likely to object to later. Consent for treatment, for the study and for imaging of the child are three separate permissions.
A named pathway for germline findings, which this subject reliably produces. A bilateral, multifocal or familial retinoblastoma implies a germline mutation carrying risk for siblings and future offspring. Adrenocortical carcinoma and choroid plexus carcinoma raise a cancer predisposition syndrome affecting parents and siblings. Bilateral or syndromic Wilms tumour raises predisposition of a different kind. Any of these can surface during record abstraction. The protocol must name the treating consultant or genetic counsellor who will discuss the finding with the family, state that findings are never conveyed by research staff or by telephone, and state the referral route for counselling and testing. A second pathway is needed for children found on abstraction to have abandoned therapy, since a tracing call is a re-contact with a family who did not consent to it and the committee should approve the wording used.
7. Why can treatment abandonment make my survival figures wrong?
Because censoring assumes something about abandonment that is false. When a child is censored, the analysis assumes that child's subsequent risk of the outcome resembles that of children still under observation. Abandonment is the clearest violation of that assumption in all of paediatric practice: a child who stops therapy after four weeks of induction has a far higher risk of death than a child of the same age and risk group who continued. Recording that child as lost to follow-up and censoring at the last visit therefore does not preserve the estimate, it inflates it, and the inflation is largest in exactly the units where abandonment is commonest.
The distortion is worse than it first appears, because it is confounded with the exposure being studied. Most theses that examine abandonment are looking at distance from the centre, parental education, family income or delay in presentation. Those same factors predict abandonment. Censoring the abandoners therefore removes the high-risk children preferentially from the disadvantaged stratum, which flattens or reverses the very association the study set out to measure. A survival curve that looks reassuringly similar across socio-economic groups is often a curve from which the poorer families have quietly been censored out.
What the protocol must do. Define abandonment explicitly as four or more consecutive weeks of missed scheduled therapy in a child who has neither completed treatment nor been formally referred elsewhere. Record the date the missed treatment began, not the date the classification was made. Distinguish abandonment from formal refusal of treatment at diagnosis, from transfer out with documentation, and from genuine loss to follow-up after therapy was completed, since these three are different states with different implications. Pre-specify abandonment as an event contributing to event-free survival, and report abandonment-sensitive survival alongside conventional survival so that readers can see the size of the difference. Where the tracing procedure establishes vital status for some abandoners, report how many were traced, because the traced and untraced groups are not alike either.
8. How is a PhD research proposal different from an MD or DNB synopsis?
Scope, duration and the standard of novelty are all higher. A PhD proposal is expected to define a programme of work rather than a single study, usually spanning several linked objectives over three years or more, and to argue an original contribution to knowledge rather than a local description. It carries a substantially longer critical review of literature, an explicit conceptual framework, a timeline broken into phases with milestones, and a funding and resource plan.
An MD or DNB synopsis is judged on feasibility and correctness rather than originality. A well-defined descriptive cohort answering a question the unit needs answered, executed cleanly and analysed honestly, meets the standard for a dissertation. The same question would be one objective within a doctoral proposal. Candidates coming to a doctoral proposal from a dissertation background most often underestimate the depth of the literature review and the specificity of the analysis plan required.
9. When should I register my paediatric oncology thesis topic?
As early as the regulations allow, and earlier than most candidates do. University and National Board timelines generally require the synopsis to be submitted within a few months of joining, and ethics committee approval must precede any data collection. Working backwards from submission is the reliable way to plan: analysis and writing take longer than expected, and in this subject data abstraction from record rooms is slow because files are retrieved in batches.
Registration is a commitment, so settle the definitions first. Changing time zero, the endpoint list or the staging system after registration means either an amendment or a dissertation whose methods do not match the approved synopsis. The half day spent testing the case record form against twenty real files before registration prevents both.
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