Download Leading the way - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

C L I N I C A L
R E S E A R C H
P R O G R A M
B R I E F
Leading the way
PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY
Setting the Standard in
Pediatric Oncology
When the Institute opened in 1947, it was the first
cancer hospital focused exclusively on pediatric
cancer research and care. Today, Dana-Farber
remains a national leader in both the adult and
pediatric cancer communities.
COMMITTED TO WORLD-CLASS CARE, INNOVATIVE RESEARCH
The physician-scientists in Dana-Farber’s Pediatric Oncology Program are global
leaders in their fields. They are committed to providing the highest level of patientfocused, multidisciplinary care, while conducting innovative research to develop
new, more effective diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.
care: The “total patient care” philosophy of Dana-Farber’s founder, Sidney Farber, MD, has lived on for
more than six decades and continues today. Dana-Farber’s multidisciplinary clinics support the medical,
emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of our pediatric cancer patients, survivors, and their families.
The nearly 60-year partnership between Dana-Farber and Children’s Hospital Boston, known as DanaFarber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Care, represents the largest pediatric cancer program in New England.
Research: Dana-Farber remains at the international forefront of developing new, effective cancer treatments that have helped save thousands of children’s lives globally. The Institute’s unique,
broad-based collaborations and state-of-the-art technology aid researchers in making groundbreaking
discoveries and successfully pursuing promising methods of treatment.
Chief of Staff Stephen E. Sallan, MD, checks up on a
patient in the Jimmy Fund Clinic.
Training: Regarded as one of the nation’s finest pediatric oncology training centers, Dana-Farber
offers unparalleled clinical, laboratory, and mentorship experiences, developing future leaders in
oncology care and research.
A champion for innovative pediatric research and
care, Institute founder Sidney Farber, MD, was
known to say that “the children will lead the way,”
acknowledging that pediatric cancer research
often informs clinical care in both children and
adults. Helping to lead the way today, Institute
Chief of Staff Stephen E. Sallan, MD, a luminary
On the Cutting-Edge
• Dana-Farber’s distinction as one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive
cancer centers reflects its unique ability to offer a host of services including integrative therapies, art
and music workshops, support groups, educational programs, and more that complement the expert,
tailored treatments that pediatric patients receive.
in childhood leukemia, has made advancements
• The Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Care Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program, one of
in research and care that serve as the genesis for
the oldest and largest pediatric transplant centers in the nation, performs approximately 80 stem cell
numerous pediatric and adult clinical programs at
transplants each year.
Dana-Farber and around the world.
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Fast Facts
•Pediatric cancers affect one in 330 children in the United States each year.
•The Jimmy Fund Clinic, Dana-Farber’s main pediatric care unit, treated more than 2,200 patients and conducted more than
12,000 exams in 2007.
•Two out of three pediatric patients treated at Dana-Farber are cured of their disease.
•Dana-Farber employs 45 full-time physician-scientists focused solely on pediatric cancers.
PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY
MEET THE leaders
Stuart Orkin, MD
Stephen E. Sallan, MD
Lisa Diller, MD
Lewis Silverman, MD
Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD
Chair of Pediatric Oncology
and David G. Nathan
Professor of Pediatrics
Dana-Farber Chief of Staff and
Quick Family Senior Investigator
in Pediatric Oncology
Clinical Director of Pediatric Oncology,
Director of the David B. Perini, Jr. Quality
of Life Clinic, and Chief Medical Officer
of Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital
Cancer Care
Director of the Jimmy Fund Clinic
Director of Translational
Research in Pediatric Cancers
and Blood Diseases
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• Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD, and his colleagues recently discovered that a leukemia stem cell’s genetic makeup differs from a normal blood stem cell. Based
on this breakthrough, they now strive to pinpoint new treatments that will recognize and attack cancerous stem cells while sparing normal ones.
• Charles Roberts, MD, PhD, found that the lack of a specific gene promotes tumor formation in both aggressive pediatric cancers and several types of common adult cancers. He is now working to identify new treatments that reverse the effect of this missing gene.
• Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, in collaboration with Todd Golub, MD, developed gene expression-based high-throughput screening, a new method to identify
drugs that can alter a cancer cell’s gene activity to resemble that of a normal cell. This method is currently being employed to find new therapies for
diseases such as neuroblastoma and Ewing’s sarcoma.
• A. Thomas Look, MD, used zebrafish models to discover mutations in a specific gene that trigger T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Treatments that
target this particular gene already exist as therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, and thus are available immediately for clinical investigation for T-ALL.
• Loren Walensky, MD, PhD, engineered a new way to prompt cancer cells into self-destruction by using chemical “staples” to turn an activator of apoptosis,
or programmed cell death, into an effective anti-leukemic therapy.
• Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, has designed and managed more than 45 clinical trials over the past year for young patients with brain tumors and other cancers
of the central nervous system, working tirelessly to seek out new treatments while providing compassionate care to his neuro-oncology patients.
highlighted Clinical
and Research Programs
• Hematologic Oncology
• Neuro-Oncology
• Solid Tumors
• Stem Cell Transplantation
• Survivorship
• Palliative Care
• Psychosocial Support
Historical Highlights
• 1940s: Sidney Farber, MD, showed that a combination of chemical agents could be used effectively
to treat childhood leukemia, pioneering the use of chemotherapy.
• 1960s: Dr. Farber and his colleagues developed the means to collect, store, and transfuse platelets,
blood-clotting factors that help control the bleeding that commonly accompanies chemotherapy.
• 1980s – 1990s: Dana-Farber directed a national clinical trial of a chemotherapy regimen that
significantly raised cure rates for Ewing’s sarcoma.
• 1940s – 2000s: Over the course of 60 years of care and study, overall cure rates for children’s cancers
have continued to rise and, today, have reached more than 75 percent and up to 90 percent for some
forms of the disease.
For more information about Dana-Farber’s Pediatric Oncology Department, please visit www.dana-farber.org/pediatrics or the Jimmy Fund at www.jimmyfund.org