The Pediatric Center has five major goals:

• Care for and treat children (from birth to age 18) who have cancer
• Conduct basic and clinical research aimed at improving cure rates for childhood cancer
• Identify and manage acute and long-term complications of therapy
• Provide a clinical environment in which health professionals can be instructed in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer
• Establish new and effective psychosocial interventions for patients and their families who are coping poorly with the disease and its treatment
  
  

Special Services

Pediatric Support Groups

Support groups afford an opportunity for patients, families and friends to discuss concerns, ask questions, share information and relate experiences.

Research Efforts

Researchers at Roswell Park are studying the late effects of therapy for childhood cancer. Late organ toxicities and psychosocial adjustments in long-term survivors are being investigated. Children's Oncology Group (COG) studies of the neuro-cognitive effects of treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia states and of babies with brain tumors will be coordinated in Buffalo. We are a participating member of COG, which is a national cooperative group dedicated to improving survival of pediatric oncology patients through clinical and basic research.

Areas of Special Expertise

Brain Tumors: Treatment at the multidisciplinary brain tumor clinic includes investigational drug therapies, the use of stereotactic radiosurgery in selected cases, and long term follow-up, including management of late effects. Stereotactic radiation therapy enables a high dose of radiation to be delivered to a small, intracranial area without harming adjacent tissue.

Long-Term Survivors: Roswell Park Cancer Institute operates a Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic, created to provide specialized medical care and counseling to former childhood cancer patients. It was one of the first of its kind in the nation. Dramatic success in the treatment of childhood cancers has resulted in a population of survivors who may have unique problems, such as difficulty in finding employment, questions concerning their reproductive capability because of cancer and its treatment, and the possibility of developing other malignancies later in life. This Clinic assists cancer survivors in building full, productive lives.

Lymphoma: Investigators at Roswell Park Cancer Institute sit on the Hodgkin’s Disease core committee for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) and have chaired multiple institutional trials for Hodgkin’s Disease. State-of-the-art diagnostic screening and cutting-edge therapies, including several immunotherapeutic trials (i.e., unlabeled and radiolabeled monoclonal antibody trials in the treatment of B-cell lymphomas), institutional and cooperative group trials, as well as standard and high-dose transplant therapies are available.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute investigators piloted clinical trials in advanced small non-cleaved-cell lymphoma which contributed to subsequent Children’s Oncology Group (COG) multi-institutional trials. Survival for patients with advanced stage disease has improved significantly, with more than 70 percent of patients cured. 

Orthopedic Oncology:  Roswell Park Cancer Institute introduced a new surgical technique which saves the limbs of over 90 percent of soft tissue sarcoma patients whose options were once limited to amputation. The multidisciplinary team emphasizes limb-sparing procedures, new drug therapies, and rehabilitation.

Stem Cell and Blood and Marrow Transplantation: The Roswell Park BMT team utilizes allogeneic and autologous blood and marrow transplantation, stem cell infusion, and umbilical cord transplantation in the treatment of pediatric malignancies and bone marrow failure stages. We are a National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) collection and transplant center. In addition, we are participating members and have current clinical trials with the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium and the National COBLT study for umbilical cord blood transplantation sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.