The Big ‘Cs’: Curing and Caring for Childhood Cancers at Seattle Children’s Hospital
Saturday, December 03, 2011
A diagnosis of “the C-word” is frightening for any patient and his or her loved ones: cancer. A rollercoaster of emotion, diagnosis, treatment options, care and, hopefully, a cure begins the moment any oncologist confirms cancer.
Photo: The new, single-bed patient rooms will allow space for complex medical equipment and room for two parents to stay overnight. The rooms will provide flexible space to eat, play and consult with clinicians.
For parents of newly diagnosed children, the cancer journey can be difficult. While cancer seems somehow understandable in adults, for many, it remains unfathomable when a child or teen confronts what is perhaps modern medicine’s biggest challenge. Compounding this, cancer care can be the most difficult for children, who are still growing and developing. Aggressive treatments with toxic drugs can result in a lifetime of secondary difficulties, even when the cancer is cured.
But there is good news and great hope. At Seattle Children’s Hospital, the team is experts at mitigating the difficulties of treatment to the greatest extent possible, and treatment protocols are specifically targeted for young patients. Children are never just smaller or younger versions of adults; their needs are vastly different.
Seattle Children’s Hospital brings hope for children confronting cancer. It excels at pediatric cancer diagnosis, treatment, care and the search for cures, with a national reputation ranked among just a handful of top institutions. A member of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) with local partners the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and UW Medicine (UW), Seattle Children’s Hospital is the referral resource for pediatric cancer care throughout Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. All pediatric cancer care for the SCCA is provided by Seattle Children’s Hospital, where the inpatient unit is referred to as the SCCA unit.
A robust, dedicated team of specialized pediatric oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, ARNPs and nursing staff make the difference at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where state-of-the-art cancer care is a long-standing institutional pride point. The busy, 33-bed SCCA inpatient unit works closely with the outpatient clinic, which typically has 20,000 visits annually. Every year, the comprehensive, multidisciplinary team of pediatric cancer experts treats approximately 230 children newly diagnosed with cancer — more than any other institution in the region — and provides follow-up care to more than 3,000. Chemotherapy is the hospital’s second most common reason for inpatient admissions, just behind asthma. The most common childhood cancers treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital are leukemia, brain cancers and solid tumors.
The hospital’s new Building Hope expansion project allows the cancer program to move into an expanded 48-bed unit on the top two floors of the new building. The new cancer center will feature a dedicated floor for adolescent and young adult cancer patients. These are important considerations for families who may require long inpatient stays or patients who have compromised immune function during treatment.
Teens and young adults are a significant population receiving cancer treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Roughly a fourth of the patients are age 15 and older.
Benefits of Research: Bringing Cures From Bench to Bed
The newest treatments, protocols and devices are available to patients who are participating in research because these protocols are still being tested. Patients can only receive the newest treatments at a hospital like Seattle Children’s Hospital, which has the infrastructure to bring research to the delivery of cancer care. Fifth in the nation among pediatric hospitals for National Institutes of Health research funding, the stage is set for cancer research to be among the Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s most notable contributions.
Engaging in research means Seattle Children’s Hospital meets the highest standards when providing clinical care to all patients, whether participating in research or not. Research increases demands for accuracy, oversight and compliance in care. For cancer care in particular, this is a winning strategy: strict adherence to protocols designed especially for children, administered by specialized experts who work exclusively with young patients, in a facility that caters especially to their special needs.
“Given the nature of our work with young cancer patients, there is never a question about the importance of what we do each day. I am continually impressed that we have the opportunity to change the lives of children and young adults for the better, both with good clinical care and by leading clinical and translational research efforts. My hope is that the clinical research we do today will lead to more effective treatments with fewer side effects for children and young adults in the future,” says Douglas Hawkins, M.D., Clinical Director of Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Drs. Carl Koschmann, Blythe Thomson and Douglas Hawkins recently published a study in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine (2010), confirming that children with the most common type of leukemia — acute lymphoblastic leukemia at Seattle Children’s Hospital have excellent outcomes, whether participating in studies or not. ALL cancer patients benefitted from receiving care in an environment where research is performed because such demanding oversight ensures that the care for all patients is monitored extremely carefully, and protocols are improved for everyone.
Dr. Hawkins and Dr. Julie Park are also leading national research through Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Oncology Group. Dr. Hawkins chairs the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee, and Dr. Park chairs the Neuroblastoma Disease Committee.
“A teaching hospital, the Children’s academic research community leads to physician recruitment and retention success, luring and retaining the best talent in pediatrics to care for pediatric cancer patients. Faculty members are deeply invested in improving child health, and their passion attracts other seasoned providers, as well as new investigators who expand research and improve clinical care,” says Bruder Stapleton, M.D., Chief Academic Officer at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Program Highlights: Key Experts for Key Childhood Cancers
Jim Olson, M.D.; Russ Geyer, M.D.; and Sarah Leary, M.D., are laying groundwork for a personalized approach to brain tumor treatment.
For leukemia, Blythe Thomson, M.D., and Jessica Pollard, M.D., are leading research to improve treatment options for high-risk and recurrent disease.
With neuroblastoma, Dr. Park is gearing up lab efforts to understand the mechanisms of this cancer. Her team will develop novel ways to diagnose and treat neuroblastoma for optimal pediatric outcomes.
MD News November/December 2011, Seattle