Cancer and Blood Disorders

Our team of experts is knowledgeable in the specialized laboratory, radiological, surgical and medical evaluation of children and youth with cancer. The team works closely with BC Cancer and its community centres and clinics to provide treatment and follow-up for children and youth with cancer.

Providers should refer youth over the age of 17 at diagnosis to BC Cancer. In exceptional cases, we will consider older youth 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's cancer specialists are in constant communication with centres worldwide. They decide the best possible treatment for any childhood cancer.

The Neuro-oncology Program is a collaboration between the Oncology and Neurosciences departments at BC Children's Hospital. We serve children and youth across the province with brain, spinal cord and nerve sheath tumours. We also address neurological issues that arise in children and youth with cancer, as well as those with nervous system tumour predisposition syndromes.

We focus on the best curative treatment of tumours or cancers, while aiming to mitigate the short- and long-term effects of conditions and treatments.

We provide consultation and care for patients with complex hematological disorders such as bleeding, red cell disorders, thrombosis, cytopenia and bone marrow failure syndromes.

This service receives consultations on complex hematology patients from the hospital, pediatricians, and family physicians in the community.

The Hemoglobinopathy Program provides state-of-the-art care for all pediatric patients with sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other hemoglobin disorders in BC and Yukon. The hemoglobinopathy care team includes hematologists, nurses, social workers and other allied health staff.

We follow patients at BC Children's Hospital until age 18. They then transition to St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver for continuing care.

This program also manages the chronic transfusion program and iron chelation therapy. When suitable, we may offer patients the option of bone marrow transplantation or other novel therapies. They may also participate in clinical trials and other patient-centred research.

Community pediatricians, family physicians and the Newborn Screening Program can refer patients.

The PHSA Provincial Blood Coordinating Office administers the British Columbia Inherited Bleeding and Red Cell Disorders Provincial Program.

This service provides care and support to children, youth and their families with hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, platelet disorders and other rare inherited bleeding disorders. It supervises and coordinates the distribution and usage of provincial blood coagulation products, which Canadian Blood Services and the patient database track. We follow patients at BC Children's Hospital until age 18. They then transition to St. Paul's Hospital for continuing care.

The Thrombosis Program provides consultation and continuing care for children and youth with thrombosis or at risk of developing thrombosis. The service receives consultations from different pediatric subspecialties in the hospital, and pediatricians and family physicians in the community. It is also an anticoagulation resource for families and health-care providers around the province.

Many children survive cancer well into adulthood. We review and discuss their disease and potential long-term health risks at long-term follow-up clinics. They then transition to adult health care once they are eligible.

The oncology team has developed disease-specific long-term follow-up (LTFU) guidelines. The team may modify these guidelines individually to provide the best care for each individual patient.

Long-term Follow-up Clinic

The Long-term Follow-up Clinic sees patients two years post-treatment with no evidence of cancer.

Long-term Follow-Up Clinic brochure (PDF)

Multi-disciplinary Clinic

The Multi-disciplinary Clinic sees patients who have had brain tumours and are two years post-treatment.

Multi-disciplinary clinic brochure (PDF)

Late Effects, Assessment and Follow-up (LEAF) Clinic

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

As part of this program, the Late Effects, Assessment and Follow-up (LEAF) Clinic ensures that adult survivors of childhood cancer get the best possible care. Find more information on the BC Cancer website.

Blood and Marrow Transplant/Cellular Therapy

The Blood and Marrow Transplant/Cellular Therapy (BMT/CT) Program provides care for children and youth with cancer, hematological disorders, immunological diseases and other conditions through specialized therapy infusions.

Apheresis is the continuous separation of blood of varying densities by centrifugation (spinning). We use this procedure to treat different cancers and blood disorders.

At the Apheresis Clinic, we perform leukapheresis (removal of white blood cells), plasmapheresis (removal of plasma) and erythrocytapheresis (removal of red blood cells).