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Cancer & Blood Disorders

We provide comprehensive care for children under 17 years of age who have cancer or complex blood disorders.
About

Cancer

The care is provided by a team of experts knowledgeable in the specialized laboratory, radiological, surgical and medical evaluation of children.

The team works in close collaboration with the BC Cancer and its community centres and clinics, in providing treatment and follow-up for children with cancer. Adolescents over the age of 17 at diagnosis should be referred to BC Cancer. In special cases, older adolescents will be considered for treatment at BC Children's Hospital.

The program is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), a worldwide cooperative research group. BC Children’s Hospital cancer specialists are in constant communication with centres all over the world and are able to decide the best possible treatment for any childhood cancer.

Read more information about cancer treatment and resources.

Blood disorders

We provide consultative service and directive care for patients with complex hematological disorders such as bleeding, red cell disorders, thrombosis, cytopenias, and bone marrow failure syndromes.

The hematology outpatient service is staffed by the same physicians who run the oncology service.

 
 

This service receives consultations from different pediatric subspecialties in the hospital as well as from pediatricians and family physicians in the community on complex hematology patients. It is a busy service, receiving over 200 new in-patient consultations, over 300 new out-patient consultations, and sees over 1,500 patients every year.

New consults are usually seen in the New Hematology Consult clinic on Wednesday afternoons. Follow-up visits for children with chronic hematological problems are provided Monday-Friday. Emergency referrals can usually be seen on the same day if indicated.

Find more information and resources about blood disorders.

Hemoglobinopathy

 

The Hemoglobinopathy Program at BC Children's Hospital provides state-of-the-art comprehensive care for all pediatric patients with sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies in BC and the Yukon. The Hemoglobinopathy care team consists of hematologists and nurses, as well as social workers and other allied health staff. Patients are followed at BC Children's Hospital until age 18 and then transitioned to St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver for continuing care.

Currently the Provincial Hemoglobinopathy Program looks after approximately 200 children and adolescents with hemoglobinopathies, with around 20 new patients added each year. Hemoglobinopathies treated at our centre include all forms of thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and other rare hemoglobin variants. This program also manages, supervises, and coordinates the chronic transfusion program and iron chelation therapy. When suitable, patients may be offered the option of bone marrow transplantation or other novel therapies, and may have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials and other patient-centred research.


New patients can be referred by community pediatricians and family physicians, and via the Newborn Screening Program.


Find more information and resources about blood disorders.

 
 

We are the home for the British Columbia Inherited Bleeding and Red Cell Disorders Provincial Program, administered by the PHSA Provincial Blood Coordinating Office.


This service provides comprehensive care and support to children and their families with hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, platelet disorders, and other rare inherited coagulopathies. It has the mandate to supervise and coordinate the distribution and usage of provincial blood coagulation products with tracking by Canadian Blood Services and the patient database.


The team consists of hematologists, nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers. Patients are followed at BC Children’s Hospital until age 18 and then transitioned to St. Paul’s Hospital for continuing care.


Office: 1-888-300-3088 ext 5335
Email: hemophilia_clinic@cw.bc.ca


Find more information and resources about blood disorders.

 
 

The Thrombosis program provides consultation and continuing care for children and young adults with thrombosis or at risk of developing thrombosis. The service receives consultations from different pediatric subspecialties in the hospital as well as from pediatricians and family physicians in the community. It is also an anticoagulation resource for families and health care professionals around the province.


The INR Point of Care (POC) Home Monitoring was developed for patients who require frequent bloodwork because of unstable INR values. Patients receive a 1-year loan of a POC monitor that can be used at home to check INR by finger poke. Families call the Thrombosis service with the INR value and anticoagulation is adjusted over the telephone.


Patients are usually seen in the clinic on Tuesday afternoons.


Find more information and resources about blood disorders for more information & resources.


Prepare

Outpatient visit

We are located on level 8 of Teck Acute Care Center (TACC). Information (PDF) for families: where outpatient and inpatient is located

 
  • Check in with the appropriate booking clerk, who will provide you with a clinic room number and direct you where to go.
  • Notify the booking clerk, if your child has a cough, runny nose, rash, etc. Please ensure all other family members are well if visiting the clinic.
  • You will be given an ID armband and blood requisition. Please put the armband on your child's wrist.
  • Go directly to your assigned room after check-in with the booking clerk. You do not need to notify the unit clerk at the team care station. The booking clerk sends an alert to your nurse to let her/him know you are en route to your assigned room.
  • The nurse will check your child's height, weight, temperature and blood pressure. Give the bloodwork requisition to your nurse who will collect the bloodwork.
  • Bloodwork results take approximately 45-60 minutes to process.
  • Please advise the nurse if you will be leaving clinic during this wait time.
  • You can expect to see a physician or your nurse practitioner, or your nurse clinician approximately 1 hour after check-in.
  • Before the end of your appointment you will be given a follow-up appointment form, if needed. Hand this form to the booking clerk (same person who checked you in) and they will give you an appointment time.
 

 
  • Patients are typically assigned a clinic room for the duration of their appointment. There are times when the number of patients exceed the number of rooms. These times are called "Over Capacity" days. Please follow the directions of the booking clerks and nurses for room assignments.
  • Certain appointment types (e.g. Vincristine only, implanted port flushes, bloodwork only) will only be scheduled outside of high volume clinic hours (usually in the afternoon).
  • The oncologists/hematologists have designated days on which they are available to see patients in the clinic. If it is not their specific clinic day when you come to the clinic, you will be seen by one of the other doctors. Some appointments may be with the nurse only.
  • Some appointments will go unexpectedly longer than originally scheduled. Please have a plan for family members at home if this should happen.
 

 
  • Appointment check-in time is not the same as procedure start time. The appointment check-in time is to allow enough preparation time before the start of the procedure.
  • Procedure time is determined on the day of your appointment. Procedure times vary according to the availability of the anesthesiologist, number of procedures, how sick patients are, emergency patients or isolation requirements.
  • Plan to be in clinic for 2-5 hours.
  • Notify your nurse if your child has any cough, runny nose, or any symptoms that may require isolation (e.g. MRSA) as soon as possible. This may affect the time of the procedure.
  • Put EMLA cream on implanted port, LP or bone marrow sites one hour prior to appointment check-in time. If unsure where to put EMLA, please ask your nurse.

Remember to strictly follow fasting instructions:

  • No solids (including milk, NG feed, formula) 6 hours before appointment check-in time
  • No breast milk 4 hours before appointment check-in time
  • No clear fluids (water, apple juice, Kool-Aid, clear tea) 1 hour before appointment check-in time
 

Inpatient (T8)

The inpatient unit is located on the 8th level of the Teck Acute Care Centre (TACC).

  • The 27-bed inpatient ward, includes a 7-bed bone marrow transplant unit, is located on level 8 of TACC
  • Phone 604-875-2345 ext 7614

 

The Discharge Planning Nurse will meet with all new families before discharge:

  • to check that parents are learning the necessary knowledge and skills,
  • to discuss what to expect when at home, and
  • to check specific concerns parents have about their child and situation.

At times there can be many different health care professionals involved in one child’s care. The discharge planning nurse helps to make sure that all the involved people are aware of the discharge date so that everyone is ready when the day comes. Information is passed to the nurse clinicians in the outpatient clinic and/or the home community health care professionals so that the transfer of care from one setting to another goes smoothly.

A discharge summary is provided to all parents at the time of discharge.

Calling for help on weekends and after hours (PDF)

Follow-up

Follow-Up Clinics 

With the advances in childhood cancer treatment over the last two decades, increasingly more children are surviving cancer well into adulthood. Details regarding their disease and potential long-term health risks are reviewed and discussed at the long term follow-up clinics. They will then be transitioned to Adult Health Care once they are eligible. 

The oncology team has developed disease-specific long term follow up (LTFU) guidelines.  These guidelines may be modified on an individual basis to provide the optimum care for the survivor.

Long Term Follow Up Clinic

 

Patients who are 2 years post-treatment with no evidence of cancer are seen in this long-term follow-up clinic.

Long Term Follow Up Clinic brochure

Multi-Disciplinary Clinic (MDC)

 

Patients who have had brain tumours who are 2 years post-treatment are seen in the MDC clinic.

MDC brochure

 
BC Cancer and BC Children’s Hospital have created the Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors Program for childhood cancer survivors. 

As part of this program, a new clinic called the Late Effects, Assessment and Follow-up (LEAF) Clinic is open to ensure that adult childhood cancer survivors are getting the best care. 
For more information about the clinic, please visit the website. 
 


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