Where should your child receive leukemia treatment?

After a tentative diagnosis of leukemia, most physicians refer the family for further tests and treatment to the closest major medical center with expertise in treating children with cancer. It is very important that the child with leukemia be treated at a facility that uses a team approach, including pediatric oncologists, oncology nurses, specialized surgeons and pathologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, child life special- ists, pediatric radiologists, rehabilitation specialists, education specialists, and social workers. State-of-the-art treatment is provided at these institutions, offering your child the best chance for remission (disappearance of the disease in response to treat- ment) and ultimately, cure.

Usually the child is admitted through the emergency room or the oncology clinic, where a physical exam is performed. An intravenous line (IV) is started, more blood is drawn, and a chest x-ray is obtained. Early in your child’s hospitalization, the oncologist will perform a spinal tap to determine if any leukemia cells are present in the cerebrospinal fluid and a bone marrow aspiration to identify the type of leuke- mia.

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