Indian Pediatric Hematology Oncology Group

Pediatric Hematology Oncology (PHO) Chapter Of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) and INPHOG

PHO Chapter of IAP (www.phoindia.org) was formed in October 1987 with the intent to promote the health status and quality of life of children suffering from blood and cancer disorders in India, through education, advocacy, research and policy making. Its journey since the conception is a story to be told. The chapter has done exemplary work that most other associations/sub-specialty chapters would love to emulate. Besides conducting conferences, formulating guidelines, fostering collaboration among pediatricians and pediatric hemato-oncologists, affiliating with similar bodies, commencing fellowship programmes, research has always been on the forefront of its agenda. The advancement of science critically depends on meticulous research. Research not only to discover novel scientific diagnostics and therapies, but also to improve existing methodologies of treatment and to optimize outcomes with innovative, indigenous solutions. PHO Chapter of IAP, recognized it very early that improvement in outcomes happens only with conduct of multi-institutional trials. To further this ambition of research, PHO chapter constituted the Indian Pediatric Oncology Group (InPOG) in 2008. The idea was first mooted at the SIOP 2007 meeting in Mumbai with Dr Purna Kurkure, Dr Anupam Sachdeva and Dr Bharat Agarwal being the leaders of this exercise. The focus during the early years of InPOG was to put the systems in place to allow the running of such a group.

Launch of InPOG in 2008

By 2014, InPOG was ready to take the next step in fulfilling its mission. Dr Sameer Bakhshi was elected as the new chair and took over the responsibility in January 2015, followed by Dr Shripad Banavali as the next Chair in January 2018.

The First Executive of InPOG (2015-2017)

The Second Executive of InPOG (2018-2021)

All members of PHO IAP were invited to join InPOG and asked to specify their areas of research interest and 21 subcommittees (later expanded to 26) encompassing all areas were formed. A roadmap for the development and conduct of an InPOG study was created. Over the next 6 years InPOG had a portfolio of 31 studies with 10 017 children with cancer enrolled in nearly 23 clinical trials, 6944 [69•3%] patients in observational studies and 3073 [30•7%] of patients in interventional studies in 114 different institutions across the country.

Trend of InPOG Studies, Participating Centres, and Patients Recruited

Distribution of Centres in India participating in InPOG Studies

In 2019, to enable the research wing to grow it was decided to have InPOG as a separate entity as a section 8 company. Further benign hematological disorders were added to its remit and the name was changed to Indian Pediatric Hematology Oncology Group (INPHOG). INPHOG Research Foundation was incorporated as a Section 8 company on 22nd Dec 2021.
PHO Chapter of India and INPHOG continue to work together in their goals of making a positive impact on the lives of children with blood and cancer disorders in India. Joint meetings are held between PHO executive board and INPHOG board. PHO Chapter, the parent body of all pediatric hematologists and oncologists in India endeavours to provide full support to INPHOG to further research in this niche specialty in the country.