Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders

Hemophilia

In these conditions, the blood is missing certain key proteins that help form blood clots to stop bleeding. Hemophilia is genetically inherited and is significantly more common in boys.

Thrombophilia

These disorders increase the body’s tendency to form blood clots, which can block blood vessels and cause serious complications.

Von Willebrand disease

A bleeding tendency caused by a deficiency of von Willebrand factor, a protein essential for blood clotting. This condition is generally milder than hemophilia and affects boys and girls equally.

Other rare factor deficiencies

Normal blood contains many clotting factor proteins that keep the body in perfect balance so that a person neither bleeds nor clots too much. While forms of hemophilia affect factors VIII, IX, and XI, other rare conditions can cause deficiencies in any of the other coagulation factors.

Anemia (sickle cell, hemolytic, thalassemia, spherocytosis)

A low number of red blood cells, which are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body. This can happen for several reasons, including a lack of key nutrients, genetic mistakes in the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin protein, and defects in the walls of the red cell.

Leukopenia and neutropenia

In these conditions, the body has a lower-than-normal white blood cell count, either overall (leukopenia) or of a specific type of white blood cell called neutrophils (neutropenia).

Thrombocytopenia

When the number of platelets in the bloodstream are abnormally low, it becomes harder for the body to form blood clots and stop bleeding, including internal bleeding.

Brain tumors

Tumors are abnormal masses that potentially cause headaches, seizures, and a variety of cognitive, motor, and sensory symptoms, depending on which parts of the brain are affected.

Hereditary cancer syndromes

Up to 10% of all cancers are genetically inherited, caused by gene mutations passed from parents to children.

Leukemia

These cancers cause rapid production of abnormal white blood cells and inhibit the body’s ability to produce enough healthy blood cells.

Lymphoma

These cancers cause fast production of abnormal white blood cells, which can lead to abnormal growth of lymph nodes or tumors in the body

Muscle, soft tissue, and bone tumors

Tumors that appear on these tissues can grow rapidly and cause pain and swelling. Other symptoms depend on location.

Tumors in the abdomen or pelvis

Children can develop tumors within the organs or tissues within the abdomen or pelvis, including the liver (hepatoblastoma), kidneys (nephroblastoma), young nerve tissue (neuroblastoma), or reproductive organs.

Hemangiomas

These are clusters of tiny blood vessels that grow incorrectly and can form a lump in the skin or other organs. They are common in young children and are non-cancerous.

Vascular malformations

These are abnormalities in blood vessels that form early in fetal development. Minor malformations may appear as birthmarks with no other symptoms, but larger malformations could be painful, limit movement, or may be associated with abnormal growth of a limb or other body part.

Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is home to the region’s only pediatric blood and bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy program. These therapies can provide life-saving treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, bone marrow failure, severe immune deficiencies, nerve and brain tumors, and other rare diseases.

Available treatments include:

Allogenic stem cell therapies

The transplant of stem cells from a donor’s blood, bone marrow, or umbilical cord blood.

Autologous stem cell therapies

The transplant of stem cells from the patient’s own healthy blood.

CAR T-cell therapy

In this treatment, doctors take a sample of white blood cells, modify them to target cancer cells, and return them to the child’s blood. It can be an effective treatment for some leukemias.

Gene therapy

These treatments allow doctors to modify a child’s genes to treat disease. We currently offer gene therapy for sickle cell anemia and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

Clinical trials aren’t a last resort. They are a critical part of our approach to bring the most advanced research and care to as many children as possible with the goal of improving the outcomes of serious diseases.

Our team at the Haworth Innovative Therapeutics Clinic (HITC) conducts innovative research with cutting-edge treatments that improve the lives of our patients — including children who come to us from around the world. Trials conducted at the HITC focus on patients whose cancer has returned or not responded to other therapies. Our team offers early phase clinical trials, seamless care coordination, and emotional support throughout treatment.

We also offer access to dozens of clinical trials through Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research.

We have been recognized as a top enrolling program for cancer control studies, earning a Mission Award from the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP).

Chemotherapy

A treatment course designed to destroy fast-growing cells, like cancer cells, and stop them from multiplying.

Immunotherapy (antibody therapy)

These therapies harness your child’s natural immune system to fight cancer, either by boosting the immune system overall or supplying it with proteins (antibodies) that it can use to target specific cancer cells.

Targeted therapies

These therapies include a range of medications that target specific genes or molecules that certain cancer cells need to grow and multiply.

External beam radiation therapy

In this common form of radiation therapy, a machine generates a focused beam of high-energy particles (such as X-rays or gamma rays) to damage cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Internal radiation therapy

For this type of radiation therapy, doctors place a small amount of radioactive material inside or next to a tumor to destroy the cancer cells.

Proton beam therapy

An advanced radiation therapy that uses a doctor-guided, robotically controlled proton beam to target tumors, allowing for greater precision and fewer side effects. We refer patients to the Proton Therapy Center at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak for this service.

Surgery can be an important part of treatment for some cancerous tumors and is carefully planned with specially trained doctors. Surgery techniques may include specialized cameras and robotic assistance. When neurosurgery is needed, doctors use 3D imaging, real-time MRI, and other advanced tools to guide the removal of tumors.