Children's Cancer—
When kids can't be kids.

“We offer exactly the same treatments as nationally recognized children’s cancer centers.”
—Professor of Pediatrics, Richard Sills, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Waters Center for Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders

Cole was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which overproduces malignant white blood cells and can progress very rapidly.

The good news is that ALL – a cancer that was fatal in the 1950s – now has a cure rate approaching 90 percent. So within days, Cole was receiving intensive chemotherapy at University Hospital’s Waters Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders, where the majority of CNY’s pediatric cancer patients receive treatment. This rare resource offers state-of-the-art cancer treatment, right here in Syracuse.

The center is a member of the international Children’s Oncology Group (COG), which determines the most effective treatment regimens available.

“We offer exactly the same treatments as nationally recognized children’s cancer centers in major cities,” explains Dr. Richard Sills, the center’s director. “But we are small enough to know every patient who walks through our door – and every member of our patients’ families.

“A child with leukemia often has 50 to 70 hospital visits in the first year alone,” adds Dr. Sills. “If those visits are far from home, it pulls families apart when they need each other most.”

Because Cole lives a manageable distance from Syracuse, he’s been able to combine chemotherapy with kindergarten. He is halfway through a three-and-a-half year chemotherapy regimen.

“For the most part,” say his grateful parents, “Cole is living like a normal kid.”