|
|
 |
| Quick Facts |
- Childhood cancers are the #1 disease killer of children - more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.
- Childhood cancer is not single disease, but rather many different types that fall into 12 major categories. Common adult cancers are extremely rare in children, yet many cancers are almost exclusively found in children.
- Childhood cancers are cancers that primarily affect children, teens and young adults. When cancer strikes children and young adults, it affects them differently than it would an adult.
- Attempts to detect childhood cancers at an earlier stage, when the disease would react more favorably to treatment, have largely failed. Young patients often have a more advanced stage of cancer when first diagnosed.
|
| |
|
 |
|
| |
|
| |
| Research |
| At the Irving Cancer Research Center, our physician scientists and clinical investigators of the HICAOC perform research to ensure that our patients have access to the latest, most innovative therapies. Existing and future projects are designed to lead to new treatments, new diagnostic methods, and strategies to prevent childhood cancer. Our research includes both laboratory-centered basic and translational ventures and clinical or patient based investigations in a wide spectrum of projects |
| |
 |
| |
| |
| The physician-scientists and clinical investigators of the HICAOC perform research at the Irving Cancer Research Center, ensuring that our patients have access to the latest, most innovative therapies. Existing and future projects are designed to lead to new treatments, new diagnostic methods, and strategies to prevent childhood cancer. Our research includes both laboratory-centered basic and translational ventures and clinical or patient based investigations in a wide spectrum of projects. |
| |
| WOLF Foundation Leukemia/Lymphoma Laboratory |
| The laboratory of Adolfo Ferrando, MD, PhD in conjunction with Drs. Maria Luisa Sulis and Theresa Palomero seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms that promote and sustain the malignant proliferation and survival of leukemic cells. For more information go to http://156.111.235.11/pharm/cumc/profile.php?id=254 |
| |
| Brain and Nervous System Tumor Laboratory |
The laboratory of Anna Lasorella, MD and Antonio Iavarone, MD, a husband and wife team, is dedicated to research in brain tumors and other tumors of the nervous system including neuroblastoma. Their work focuses on the deregulation of the cell cycle and the differentiation in tumors derived from the brain and nervous system. For more information on their work, visit
http://156.111.235.11/pharm/cumc/profile.php?id=7 and
http://156.111.235.11/pharm/cumc/profile.php?id=33 |
| |
| Tay-banz Solid Tumor Laboratory |
The Pediatric Tumor Biology lab is a joint research effort of Dr. Darrell Yamashiro of Pediatric Oncology and Dr. Jessica Kandel of Pediatric Surgery. The main focus of their research is to understand the biology of pediatric solid tumors. Drs. Yamashiro and Kandel have used investigations of tumor blood vessel growth, or angiogenesis, as a lens to illuminate the fundamental steps of tumor progression, metastasis, and resistance. For more information on their research, visit
http://156.111.235.11/pharm/cumc/profile.php?id=221 and
http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/facdb/profile_list.asp?uni=jjk47&DepAffil=Surgery |
| |
| Molecular Epidemiology |
| The molecular epidemiology laboratory of Dr. Manuela Orjuela is involved in three separate, but inter-related projects investigating the root causes of childhood cancer secondary to genetic and environmental interactions. The first project is looking into the connection between folate deficiency and genetic variation in folate metabolism and the development of retinoblastoma in children. Second, Dr. Orjuela and her colleagues are involved in studies to explore the role of prenatal exposures to pro-carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during pregnancy on the development of chromosomal aberrations detectable in cord blood. Third, Dr. Orjuela, in collaboration with Dr. Kara Kelly and investigators at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, is investigating metabolizing enzymes, dietary intake, toxicity and the event free survival (EFS) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia to determine if a gene-nutrient interaction exists. |
| |
| Clinical Research – The Center for Survivor Wellness |
The Center for Survivor Wellness has a strong commitment to performing research to advance our understanding of survivorship and the late effects of being treated for childhood cancer. The center participates in projects that are intramural, extramural, and those that accrue data as part of national cooperative group studies. Presently, Dr. Jennifer Levine and her associates are involved in the following projects:
- Late Effects of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: a national study under the auspices of the Children’s Oncology Group
- Use of statins to decrease risk for the late development of cardiovascular disease
- Evaluation of ovarian reserve in survivors of Hodgkin's disease
- Qualitative analysis of barriers to long-term follow-up
- Assessment of needs as patients complete therapy
- Survey of the use of complementary and alternative medicine in survivors of pediatric cancer
- Survivor Transition Intervention, a study funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation investigating how lifestyle information creates transformative change in behavior in breast cancer survivors
|
| |
|
Clinical Research – Brain Tumor Team
|
Clinical research interests of the brain tumor team at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center include the use of high-dose chemotherapy with deferred irradiation for infant brain tumors. Studies include:
- Phase I/II study of topotecan by intracerebral clysis – a system that delivers drugs directly to the site of a brain tumor – for treatment of recurrent brain tumors
- Identification of brain tumor cell migratory motor proteins as targets for investigational therapies
- Erlotinib/etoposide for recurrent brain tumors Physicians here are also studying the treatment outcomes in children with germ cell tumor, including chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed germ cell tumors of the central nervous system and high dose chemotherapy with bone marrow reconstitution for patients with recurrent germ cell tumors.
|
| |
|
| |
| Back to Top |
| |
|
|
