The Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center is the only comprehensive Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorder Center in South Texas according to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. Our goal is to ensure that children who suffer from cancer and blood diseases receive state of the art care and treatment without the need to leave South Texas and regardless of ability to pay. Many patients previously would have traveled to San Antonio or Houston for their treatment, a hardship physically, emotionally, and financially for them and their families.
The Cancer and Blood Disorder Center is served by 4 pediatric hematologists/oncologists and 2 physician extenders. Our hematologists/oncologists have 29 years combined experience in treating kids with cancer and blood disorders. We care for patients in our three clinic locations: Corpus Christi, Brownsville and McAllen. We utilize a multidisciplinary, family-centered approach to care. Our team consists of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistant, nurses, nurse case managers, social workers, pharmacists, child life specialists, dieticians, rehabilitation therapists, chaplains and psychologists. We consider parents to be an integral part of the patient care team. We provide collaborative care with other physicians, including surgeons, neurosurgeons, otolaryngologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, ophthalmologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, endocrinologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, psychiatrists and pathologists, all trained in pediatric care.
About 11,630 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2013 (American Cancer Society). Because of major treatment advances in recent decades, more than 80% of children with cancer now survive 5 years or more. Overall, this is a huge increase since the mid-1970s, when the 5-year survival rate was less than 60%!
We strive to offer expert care for all patients and offer state of the art treatments. This is facilitated by our membership in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), which utilizes the latest treatment and research protocols available for treating childhood cancer. We participate in long-term epidemiologic research to understand the incidence of cancer in addition to prevention and treatment studies. We are members of the Minority Based CCOP (Community Clinical Oncology Program), and one of our goals is to assure that minorities are well-represented in research studies in order to develop the best treatment strategies for all patients.
In addition to diagnosing and treating children with cancer, we also have a dedicated Late Effects program which focuses on childhood cancer survivors. Because of major advances in treatment, more children treated for cancer are now surviving into adulthood. These young people are at risk for possible late effects of their cancer treatment. We have long-term follow-up guidelines which help us identify and treat potential late effects.
Blood disorders are complex and require expertise for their diagnosis and treatment. We provide personalized multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art care to children of all ages with blood disorders. Our team specializes in the treatment of children with sickle cell anemia and other anemias, hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, aplastic anemia and other bone marrow failure syndromes, thrombosis and stroke.
Team members remain in communication with the referring physician, who is an important member of the treatment team. The care continues with treatment recommendations and long-term management if indicated.
We are affiliated with regional, national and international societies that focus on hematological problems in children including sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, neutropenia, bone marrow failure syndromes and thrombocytopenia.