Innovation & Research at the Bass Center
Because childhood cancers are so rare, most young patients are referred here because of our expertise and experience. At Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, we have a pediatric cancer treatment and research program that’s known globally for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia and brain tumors.
As a part of the NCI-designated Stanford Cancer Institute, the Bass Center works with some of the brightest and most innovative physician-scientists. In addition, our physicians hold leadership roles in the national clinical research consortium Children's Oncology Group (COG). This group — representing the merger of four national pediatric cancer research groups — designs and evaluates cancer therapies through large clinical trials. We also conduct a number of trials of experimental drugs that can offer new treatment options for patients who have failed other therapies.
Genome Sequencing for Childhood Cancers
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has assembled a team of world-class clinicians, cancer biologists, computer scientists and clinical genetics experts to utilize high-throughput sequencing to improve the care of pediatric patients with cancer. Learn more about our unique approach.
Clinical Trial: Diamond Blackfan Anemia Patient Study
Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA) is a rare genetic blood disorder that is usually diagnosed in children during their first year of life. Steroids are used as a common treatment method, but many patients will also require ongoing blood transfusions, for which there are several side-effects.
For patients requiring blood transfusions, the amino acid leucine has shown in early studies to be a successful treatment option without side effects and has led to a nationwide pilot to determine if it is a safe and effective treatment for patients with DBA. The basic eligibility requirements are that the patient has a diagnosis of DBA, is over the age of two and transfusion dependent.
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is the only location in the Western U.S. currently participating in this study.
Bertil Glader, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
E-mail: bglader@stanford.edu
Anupama Narla, MD
Assistant Professor, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
E-mail: anunarla@stanford.edu
For more information and to enroll a patient in the study, call (650) 723-5535 or e-mail one of our faculty members.
Recent Acknowledgements & Grants
- December, 2013 – Michael Wei, MD, PhD, was recognized by St. Baldrick’s Foundation for his team’s novel screening methods to help identify the class of drugs that could help improve outcomes for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive type of leukemia. Read more about these screening methods.
- November, 2013 – Kathleen Sakamoto, MD, PhD, and Irving Weissman, MD, received a $1.37 million grant from CureSearch for Children’s Cancer to research the effects of an antibody that has been shown to be effective against human cancers in animal models. Read more about this this research.
- March, 2013 – A $6.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is enabling Stanford University School of Medicine faculty to better study a cancer called post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) that affects children who recently had an organ transplant. Read more about this study.
For more information about our research and clinical trials, call (650) 497-8953.
