Pediatric Hematology & Oncology
The division of pediatric hematology/oncology at LPCH is one of the largest and most active in the country. We currently have 11 full time faculty members. Our division is a recognized leader in the clinical and translational research in pediatric oncology and hematology. All members of the division are actively involved in research. The division has more than 40 active research projects with peer-reviewed funding. Senior faculty members play key roles in the Children’s Oncology Group and in other national and international research consortium.
Oncology
The oncology program is comprised of 6 full-time faculty (Dr. Link, Dr. Dahl, Dr Marina, Dr Lacayo, Dr Twist, Dr Rangaswam). In addition, several other faculty members who are mostly laboratory based participate in the clinical service (Dr Sweet-Cordero, Dr Balatgas, Dr. Wei). We have a large clinical service with 150-200 new patients/year. All patients are offered participation in current clinical trials.
Our faculty have broad expertise in all areas related to pediatric oncology. Highlights of specific programs and research areas are listed below:
Leukemia
Dr. Dahl and Dr. Lacayo head the leukemia program at LPCH. We treat 40-50 new leukemic patients per year. Patients with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia are treated on Children’s Oncology Group protocols and those with Acute Myeloid Leukemia are treated on a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital protocol AML’08. We have been laboratory and clinical collaborators with the St. Jude AML trials since 2002. All of our children with leukemia are also enrolled on the Northern California Childhood Leukemia study which is a leukemia epidemiology protocol where we collaborate with the University of California Berkeley department of Epidemiology and other pediatric oncology programs in the area to collect leukemia cells and relevant epidemiologic information on all of our patients. We have been collecting samples since 1997 so we have significant data and tissues as a resource available to us to answer biologic and epidemiologic questions. We also participate in TACL (Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia) a national collaborative group providing innovative Phase I protocols for children with relapsed ALL.
Several translational research projects investigating biologic prognostic pathways in leukemia that may be therapeutic targets in the future are ongoing. We are involved with projects investigating gene expression, phosphoflow and investigating specific intracellular pathways involved in leukemia cell death. Stanford collaborators such as Dr. Dean Felsher, Dr. Gary Nolan and Dr. Brandy Sikic are active in these studies.
Sarcomas
The sarcoma program is headed by Dr. Neyssa Marina. Dr. Marina is a world-renknown expert on the treatment of osteosarcoma and is the principal investigator on an internaltional consortium study for this disease.
Translational studies in Ewing’s sarcoma and Osteosarcoma are carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Sweet-Cordero.
Neuroblastoma
The neuroblastoma program at LPCH is directed by Dr. Clare Twist. Dr. Twist serves on the COG Neuroblastoma Steering Committee, and is the Study Chair for the current COG Phase III Study for the treatment of children with Intermediate Risk Neuroblastoma. Dr. Twist is also the Principal Investigator at Stanford for the New Advances in Neuroblastoma (NANT) Consortium, a limited institution consortium which develops Phase I trials of novel therapies for patients with high risk and recurrent neuroblastoma.Hepatoblastoma
LPCH is one of the world’s leading centers for liver disease and liver transplantation. The hepatoblastoma program is headed by Dr. Arun Rangaswami.
Hematology
The hematology program is comprised of 3 full-time faculty members, Dr. Bert Glader, Dr. Wendy Wong and Dr. Michael Jeng. Care of hematology patients is also supported by several highly skilled nurse practitioners. There are four hematology clinics per week, including one dedicated hemophilia clinic. There is a hemophilia treatment center. In addition, we have a thalassemia and sickle cell comprehensive treatment center.
