At Johns Hopkins, curing cancer is just part of our doctors' jobs.  They do not only want to make sure the cancer goes away, they also want to make sure the treatment kids get for cancer today does not cause problems for them later on.  The Johns Hopkins Children's Center operates a long-term, childhood cancer survivors follow-up program as a multidisciplinary regional resource.

Our experts follow patients for five or more years after treatment to look for patterns of health and/or learning problems that could have been caused by cancer drugs.  This information allows them to avoid or change the way they administer certain drugs to protect young patients from harmful side effects.

Research studies on the long-term effects of cytotoxic effects are ongoing.  Emphases include: cardiac function in survivors of Hodgkin's disease; mechanisms of fatigue in long-term survivors; neurocognitive effects of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) therapy; and the design of follow-up programs for adult survivors of childhood cancers.

Contacts:
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Long Term Follow-Up Clinic
The Michael J. Garil Leukemia Survivors Program for Children, Adolescents and Adults
410-955-8751 (Under 21 years old); 410-955-8893 (Over 21 years old)
Coordinator: Kathy Ruble, RN
Physician Contacts:  Robert J. Arceci, M.D., Ph.D. and Judith Karp, M.D.