Riley Children's Cancer Center
Indiana University is the first and largest provider of cancer care for children and the only provider of stem cell transplantation for children in the state of Indiana. Riley Children's Cancer Center is a national leader in providing clinical care and conducting research for children with cancer - the only such center in Indiana. The center, with more than 10 years of experience, is dedicated to curing every child with cancer or blood-related diseases.
The Riley Children's Cancer Center Advantage
Patients seen by the Riley Children's Cancer Center will benefit from:
- a family-centered, compassionate approach to care that involves the child's parents in all treatment decisions,
- a multidisciplinary care team of experienced pediatric subspecialists,
- access to clinical trials studying new ways to help patients, and
- the latest cancer-fighting drugs and therapies.
Our multidisciplinary care team is composed of 14 full-time faculty, nine full-time pediatric nurse practitioners, and four full-time social workers. Our team members are experienced specialists in areas such as stem cell transplantation, neuro-oncology, radiation therapy and cancer survivorship.
The center sees approximately 170 new oncology patients each year, treating 80 percent to 90 percent of all new cancer diagnoses in children in Indiana. Because of our reputation and success, Riley cares for cancer patients from across the nation. Riley has approximately 9,500 outpatient visits per year and approximately 900 hospital admissions per year, which places it as one of the busiest in the region.
Because of the greater survival rates among children with cancer, the majority of patients are entered into Children's Oncology Group (COG) clinical trials, ranking the center consistently in the top 10 nationally for COG clinical trial accrual. Riley will continue to be at the forefront of new treatments of pediatric cancer because cancer research findings have the potential to directly impact the survival and quality of life of young cancer patients at Riley. The medical advancements we discover here also set standard for all children's cancer centers nationwide.
Here are just a few of the achievements over the last 10 years at Riley Children’s Cancer Center:
- High risk neuroblastoma (a tumor seen in infants and toddlers) survival increased 10 percent with high dose chemotherapy and stem cell support.
- Zinecard is utilized during the treatment of osteosarcomas to reduce cardiac toxicity.
- Acute myelogenous leukemia survival increased 10 percent.
- Treatment of pediatric brain tumor patients with state-of-the-art Proton Beam radiation therapy.
- Opened new clinical trial with Tensirolimus to precisely target cancer cell signaling pathways.