Expert Care for Children Who Need Cancer Surgery

If your child has cancer, there’s a strong possibility their treatment plan will include surgery.

It’s natural for you and your child to feel nervous about surgery, especially when you’re already worried about a cancer diagnosis. But for many children with solid tumors, surgery—whether performed alone or with other treatments—offers the best chance for a cure.

Here at Cincinnati Children’s, our cancer care team includes top surgical oncologists (doctors who specialize in cancer surgery in children, teens and young adults).

We have experience treating all types of pediatric cancer, from the most common to the rarest of the rare. And we offer advanced procedures that help reduce the risk of short- and long-term complications. These include minimally invasive surgical approaches that are less damaging to the body than traditional surgery techniques.

Who Can Benefit from Seeing a Surgical Oncologist?

Our cancer surgeons routinely see patients and families who:

• Are newly diagnosed with cancer, and are in the process of learning which treatments they’ll need
• Need advanced surgical care for recurrent cancer (cancer that’s come back after treatment)
• Are able to get some cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, in their hometown—but choose to have surgery at Cincinnati Children’s
• Want a second opinion about their child’s surgery options

We treat patients who live in other countries, other states and right here in Cincinnati.

Why Choose Cincinnati Children’s for Cancer Surgery?

You can feel confident about choosing one of our surgical oncologists because:

• We’re part of a large, multispecialty team. Our cancer surgeons partner with other Cincinnati Children’s cancer specialists, including medical oncologists and radiation oncologists. Together, we decide which treatments are best suited to your child’s cancer, and in which order they should receive these treatments.
• We’re a high-volume program. Studies show that when surgeons perform a high number of procedures every year, their patients have better outcomes. Members of our surgical oncology team treat complex cancer patients every day. We have the experience it takes to remove even the most complex or hard-to-reach tumors.
• We offer more treatments for more types of cancer. We offer advanced treatments that aren’t widely available, including liver transplant for children with certain liver tumors. We also offer an advanced procedure called hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), which treats tumors that spread to the abdomen.
• We provide research-driven care. Our surgeons are national leaders in research studies to improve pediatric cancer outcomes. The Pediatric Surgical Oncology Research Consortium (PSORC), a Cincinnati-based research network, is the primary source of surgeon-led cancer research in North America.

Personalized, patient-centered care. We understand that cancer affects every child and family differently, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all treatment approach. That’s why our goal isn’t simply to remove your child’s tumor. We’ll consider how different surgery options may affect your child’s overall function and long-term outcomes.