When caring for children with cancer, we focus on protecting normal, growing tissue while accurately targeting disease with radiation. As part of the Yale Cancer Center, our team of experts includes not just radiation oncologists, but also experts in pediatric hematology-oncology and other subspecialties such as laboratory medicine, surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, pathology, and diagnostic radiology. We also have a highly trained support staff of nurses, social workers, and radiation therapists to support children and their families as they go through the treatment process. Very young children, generally those less than four years of age, are often unable to cooperate with daily external radiation treatments. Pediatric anesthesiologists assist these children with outpatient sedation or general anesthesia. This allows children to sleep through therapy, ensuring radiotherapy precision and avoiding psychological trauma.

The dedicated pediatric hematologists and oncologists of the Yale Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Program provide comprehensive and compassionate care for children with all forms of cancer and blood diseases, including leukemia, malignant tumors and lymphomas, as well as sickle cell disease, hemophilia, coagulation abnormalities, and platelet disorders. Our program utilizes a team approach to care, and is active in research that seeks to advance the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cancer and blood diseases. Cure rates continue to rise for children with cancer. At Yale, we are determined that more and more children will survive, and that they will thrive. We work to design treatments that cause less discomfort to patients in the short term and fewer serious complications in the long term. Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital’s care team works with patients and their families to design individual treatment plans. In addition to an oncologist, our multidisciplinary team includes advanced practice providers, registered nurses, social workers, a psychologist, psychiatrist, neuropsychologist, nutritionist, and child life specialists, all who have expertise in the medical, social, emotional and educational needs of children and teens. Understanding that children with cancer and blood disorders need more than medical care, we work with patients and their families to help them meet their social, emotional, educational, and behavioral needs. Our support services include: Routine psychosocial evaluations for newly diagnosed patients and their families. Home visits for the most gravely ill or psychiatrically symptomatic children and their families. A school integration program that includes counseling for families and children about their rights to have special services. We work with school districts to make appropriate accommodations for students returning to school, including providing special education services, if necessary. Psychoeducation and neuropsychological testing for patients at risk for neurocognitive problems. Support groups for siblings and parents. End-of-life support team for children and families. HEROS Survivorship Program The HEROS (Health, Education, Research & Outcomes for Survivors of Childhood Cancer) Survivorship Program at Smilow promotes the lifelong health of pediatric cancer patients after their cancer treatment has ended.It was the first childhood cancer survivorship program in Connecticut to offer comprehensive care for adults and children who had survived pediatric cancer. In our specialty clinic, patients receive detailed cancer treatment summaries and an individualized schedule for future screening for chronic conditions related to their original cancer treatment. Our multidisciplinary team that includes a pediatric oncologist, nurse practitioner, psychologist, registered dietician, and nurse educator are committed to caring for each patient as a whole person and empowering survivors

HEROS is Connecticut's first childhood cancer survivorship program. It is a positive, empowering program for young cancer survivors that focuses on screening and managing the potential long-term effects of childhood cancer treatment. HEROS provides education and guidance to give survivors the tools they need to maximize their health, quality of life, and longevity as early as six months to one year out from treatment. We see anyone diagnosed with childhood cancer at or before the age of 21. We follow our survivors for life, without the need to transition to another clinic. Our multidisciplinary team includes a pediatric oncologist, psychologist, pediatric nurse practitioner, nurse coordinator, and research coordinator.