Cancer Research at Children's Hospital

In 1970, a child diagnosed with leukemia had a very slim chance of survival. Today, the most common type of leukemia has a cure rate of 70 to 90 percent.

The reason? Research.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC has been a member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) — a multi-institutional pediatric cancer research organization sponsored by the National Cancer Institute — since 1961.

The COG consists of experts from around the country who are dedicated to improving the knowledge and treatment of childhood cancer. Membership in this prestigious organization allows us to offer state-of-the-art therapy to children with all forms of childhood cancers.

Oncology Research Projects at Children's Hospital

With support from the COG, doctors and researchers from the Hematology/Oncology Division are conducting world-renowned research to:

• Learn why some children develop cancers.
• Create innovative cancer treatments.
• Find cures for childhood cancers.

Several Hematology/Oncology physician-scientists also receive funding support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is the federal agency that conducts, supports, and coordinates biomedical research in the United States.

Ongoing oncology research projects at Children's Hospital include studies of:

• Critical biochemical events that control the growth, maturation, and death of cells that cause leukemia.
• A family of genes that cause cancers such as Burkitt’s lymphoma and neuroblastoma.
• Graft-versus-host disease following unrelated donor stem cell transplantation.
• Various treatment options for pediatric blood disorders such as severe aplastic anemia and sickle cell disease.

For more details on active research projects, see Dr. Edward Prochownik's researcher profile.