Comprehensive, Coordinated Care for Diagnosed & Relapsed Neuroblastoma

The Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute at Cincinnati Children’s provides expert care for children with newly diagnosed and relapsed / refractory neuroblastoma. Our Neuroblastoma Advanced Therapies Center offers patients and families a multidisciplinary team approach that consists of medical, surgical, radiation and diagnostic care, fertility preservation and supportive services.

The director of the Neuroblastoma Advanced Therapies Center is Daniel von Allmen, MD. Dr. von Allmen is a pediatric surgeon who is a leader in surgical care for neuroblastoma patients.

Through focused collaboration, the Neuroblastoma Advanced Therapies Center develops basic and clinical research into real-world improvements for the treatment of patients with neuroblastoma.

Multidisciplinary Care

At many hospitals, patients and families must travel to different floors or even different buildings to see various specialists. Our multidisciplinary clinic within the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute brings these specialists together, making visits more convenient and enabling the highest level of communication and coordination of care. Leading the team are oncologists and blood and marrow transplant specialists, who have extensive experience in caring for pediatric neuroblastoma patients and in conducting clinical research.

New patients undergo a comprehensive evaluation in our clinic. Our team then develops a detailed assessment and treatment recommendations. We provide referring physicians with regular updates to ensure coordinated care. Learn more about our team.

Our team includes:

• Pathology (laboratory services)
• Radiology
• Surgery
• Fertility Preservation
• Integrative Care
• Critical care
• Pain management
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Nutritional therapy
• Social work
• Radiation Oncology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Interventional Radiology
• Lab Investigators
• Clinical Researchers
• Palliative Care
• Nurse Practitioners
• Quality Improvement
• Nursing
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Physical Therapy

Advancing Targeted Radiation Therapies

Cincinnati Children’s is a leading center for the development and clinical testing of new approaches to neuroblastoma treatment. Our physicians and researchers are involved in many national and international research studies and develop their own protocols when treating neuroblastoma in children and infants. This work provides our patients with early access to new anticancer therapies, sometimes years before they become widely available elsewhere.

Such therapies include 131I-MIBG therapy, which targets radiation directly to neuroblastoma cells while sparing healthy tissue. Cincinnati Children’s is one of just a few pediatric centers in the country to offer the technically demanding 131I-MIBG therapy, which requires special facilities for radiation safety and a collaborative approach to care across multiple divisions. Also, one of the first centers to open the CU67 trial and to treat patients with CLR 131.

In addition, Cincinnati Children’s Proton Therapy Center offers one of the most precise and advanced forms of radiation therapy available in the world today. In the hands of the expert cancer team at Cincinnati Children’s, this specialized pencil beam technology destroys cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues and organs.

The Cincinnati Children’s / UC Health Proton Therapy Center has begun the world’s first clinical trial of FLASH radiation therapy for cancer. FLASH uses radiation delivered at ultra-high speeds up to 1,000 times faster than what is used clinically today.

We also specialize in blood and marrow transplantation. Our Bone Marrow Transplantation Program has performed more than 2,200 blood and marrow transplants, making it one of the busiest programs in the country.

Second Opinions for Patients with High-Risk Cancers

Cincinnati Children’s welcomes patients for second opinions about their cancers for children of all ages, including infants and adolescents, and young adults (up to age 39). Second opinions help you understand all of the available treatment options and help you make a more informed decision about which therapy is best. Many people seek out an initial second opinion to validate the treatments offered by their current care team. Others look for second opinions when a cancer hasn’t responded well to initial treatment or has returned after treatment.