Hematology/Oncology

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With a long history in London, the Childhood Cancer Program at Children's Hospital is committed to serving the needs of patients with cancer and serious blood disorders and their families. Diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for patients with cancer in a family-centered environment, are at the forefront of the program. Regional consultation services in hematology, paediatric bleeding disorders and collaboration with the provincial hemoglobinopathy program are also provided.

Multiple clinical challenges require a complex clinical environment with ready access to various state-of-the-art medical disciplines including close collaboration with colleagues in surgery, diagnostic imaging, pathology, hematology, and medical and radiation oncology. The groups work closely with various professional organizations including POGO, Association of Hemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada, the Council of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Directors of Canada and the Children's Oncology Group, as well as the Canadian Pediatric Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network.

As leaders in bleeding disorders care through the Southwest Ontario Regional Bleeding Disorders Program we are recognized as a national leader and a model for emulation. Through a satellite agreement with the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo and the Windsor Regional Hospital in Windsor, they have developed a regional oncology relationship with the support of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to provide care as close to home as possible by linking clinical care and education.

There is interaction with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto through the provincial network for Hemoglobinopathy and the bone marrow transplant service enabling specialized expertise to the whole province. A regional referral service is available for all of Southwestern Ontario for children and adolescents with cancer and serious blood disorders.
Partners include London Regional Cancer Centre, academically through The University of Western Ontario - Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and clinically through London Health Sciences Centre.

Their research commitment is primarily in the Children's Oncology Group, a multinational and interdisciplinary cancer study group that develops and implements clinical trials for the treatment of disease, collects data for epidemiology studies, and banks tumour specimens for biological study. They most recently have been involved with new trials in haemophilia, safety monitoring, quality of life and other related areas. There is involvement in thrombotic states and childhood stroke, as well as marrow failure syndromes.

A relatively new area of research, non-malignant hematology, is expected to expand as new drugs become available and as new molecular diagnostics are developed. Drug metabolism studies in collaboration with the Pharmacology section are underway. The right combination of personnel and facilities provides an excellent platform to develop a niche in understanding pharmacokinetics of drugs in childhood cancer and related fields and the possibility of answering some pressing questions about drug metabolism and dosing.

The Team:

The Facts:

  • Appointments in less than 24 hours for urgent cases
  • Hematology clinics on alternate Thursdays
  • Less than two months for non-urgent appointments

Link:

Children's Hospital - Hematology/Oncology