Services for Children and Adolescents with Cancer and Chronic Blood Disorders
Thanks to medical innovations and new protocols, approximately 80 percent of kids with cancer will survive; children with the most common childhood cancer, acute lymphocytic leukemia, have a 90 percent cure rate. Our goal at Stony Brook Children's is for kids to be cured and to grow up to be healthy, well-adjusted, productive adults. That goal is the over-riding foundation of our pediatric cancer care program.
Since the Pediatric Oncology Program started in 1991, the team has treated hundreds of children with malignant tumors. Our disease-specific cure rates remain at or above the national averages for major childhood cancers such as acute leukemia, brain tumors, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, Wilms tumors of the kidney, and bone and soft tissue sarcomas.
Annually, the hematology/oncology team sees approximately 2,000 inpatient and 5,000 outpatient encounters.
Advanced Diagnostics
Stony Brook offers state-of-the-art diagnostic modalities including molecular diagnostics, and tissue-based and gene-based tests. All of our laboratories are fully accredited by the major accrediting organizations and our technologists are experienced and appropriately certified.
Leading Edge Protocols
As a leading pediatric cancer program, and a full member of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), Stony Brook has access to the latest treatment protocols and modalities. Stony Brook can treat all common and most less common cancers in children, including brain tumors, leukemia, lymphomas, neuroblastomas, Wilms tumor, kidney cancer, and sarcomas of soft tissue, muscles and bone. If a child comes to Stony Brook with a rare cancer, we have a worldwide network established and we can comfortably refer the family to the appropriate expert or center better equipped to treat the child.
Treatment may involve one or a combination of the following.
- Surgery. We use surgery as both a diagnostic and a treatment modality.
- Chemotherapy. Our chemotherapy protocols follow the guidelines of international children's cancer treatment organizations, including the standard-setting Children's Oncology Group (COG) and is customized for each child.
- Radiation. Our team works to deliver highly targeted radiation at the lowest possible doses that also limit exposure to normal tissue.
Specialized Treatment for Blood Disorders
In addition to treating childhood cancers, Stony Brook offers advanced, comprehensive care for a wide range of blood disorders, some of which include:
- Sickle cell anemia
- Thalassemia
- Platelet diseases
- Bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and Von Willebrand's disease.
- Gaucher Disease