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Cancer Report

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the first question is often, “Why?” The next question is, “Where do we turn?”

Since 1951, when Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh announced the founding of its “Tumor Clinic,” generations of families and pediatricians have turned to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for the treatment of childhood cancers. Fifty-six years later, the Cancer Program at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC continues the work begun by the Tumor Clinic. When the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette carried the story about the new Tumor Clinic, the cure rate for childhood cancer was roughly 5 percent. Today, about 80 percent of patients diagnosed with childhood cancers are cured.

Our goals now are to improve the cure rates for neuroblastomas and brain cancers, areas that still represent significant challenges. Collaboration and research have brought us to this encouraging point, and they continue to guide our progress every day.

In the full Cancer Program Report, you will read about the many achievements made by our program and, most importantly, by our patients. We hope their stories will give you a sense of the urgency that drives the oncologist/researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to ensure that the pace of advances continues every single day.

A. Kim Ritchey, MD
Cancer Program Director

Last Update
April 6, 2011

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