Why Choose Us

Among the Nation’s Best Cancer Programs

• We treat children, teens and young adults with the most complex cancers. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks our Cancer and Blood Disorders Center among the best in the United States. Seattle Children’s also ranks as the top children’s hospital in the Northwest and among the nation’s best.
• Our doctors are specially trained and among the most experienced in the nation at treating tumors in children. Other hospitals refer patients to our surgeons for solid tumors that are difficult to remove safely.
• Seattle Children’s doctors are global leaders in research to improve care and cure rates. We offer state-of-the-art therapies and groundbreaking clinical trials that are not available at all hospitals.
• Our patients benefit from the work of physician-scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and UW Medicine, as well as at Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Care Tailored to Your Child’s Unique Needs

• More and more, we are taking a personalized approach to fighting disease. For certain cancers, we do tests to define a cancer’s genetic profile – its specific set of abnormal genes. This approach helps us customize treatment for your child’s cancer. In some cases, diagnosis and treatment planning include studying whether your child has a risk of developing cancer that needs to be studied in the rest of the family.
• We provide seamless care from first visit to follow-up. For children with high-risk leukemia, we bring together a team of experts in diagnosis, treatment, research and stem cell transplantation.
• Our doctors have extra training and years of experience treating kids. We care for children, teens and young adults all day, every day – not just once in a while. This means everyone on our team has the experience and skills to make a real difference for your child.
• We are the only children’s hospital in our region accredited by the Commission on Cancer (CoC). We meet CoC’s stringent standards to provide patient-centered care that is high-quality and comprehensive.
• Our full range of treatments includes chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplants, surgery and radiation therapy.

Research to Improve Care and Cure — Including Immunotherapy

• Seattle Children’s is known worldwide for developing promising new treatments. Our doctors lead clinical trials that aim to improve cure rates and reduce treatment time and side effects.
• Our team leaders head numerous national pediatric cancer steering committees, clinical trials and research consortiums – like the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the largest pediatric oncology consortium in the world – in areas such as leukemia, solid tumors, brain tumors, survivorship, and symptom management. We offer our patients the very latest treatments being studied, such as phase 1 clinical trials. In fact, we have more open Children’s Oncology Group clinical trials than 96% of pediatric academic medical centers. This means your care team has more options when choosing what is best for your child. These early studies are especially important if your child’s cancer does not respond well to treatment (refractory) or comes back (recurrent).
• Our doctors and researchers are harnessing the immune system to better treat cancer in children, teens and young adults. We have one of the nation’s largest pipelines of T-cell immunotherapy trials for children and young adults. We offer options for children with hard-to-treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (PLAT); brain and central nervous system tumors (BrainChild); neuroblastoma and other solid tumors (STRIvE); and soft tissue tumors (ENLIGHTen).
• Many of the clinical trials offered at Seattle Children’s are on our current research studies page or on gov. Read our guide about searching for trials on ClinicalTrials.gov (PDF). You can search for bone marrow transplant clinical trials on Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s clinical trials page.

Specialists in Treating Kids With Blood Disorders

• Our doctors are nationally known for treating children who have blood disorders including sickle cell disease, bleeding disorders, thrombosis, thalassemia, immune cytopenias, hemolytic anemias, iron deficiency and more.
• We offer a full range of services, such as medicines, clotting factors, blood transfusions and stem cell transplants.
• Seattle Children’s has the experts your child may need if their condition causes problems with other body systems, such as the heart, kidneys, bones or ability to fight infection (immune system). We work together to achieve the best possible outcome for your child.
• Our doctors take part in national and international research groups that work to improve care and find cures for blood disorders.

Experts in Stem Cell Transplants

• For some cancers and bone marrow failure disorders, your child’s treatment may include a stem cell transplant using blood-forming stem cells. Our team is with you through each step — preparing for the transplant, doing the procedure here at Seattle Children’s and caring for your child as they recover. We work closely with our partner, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, whose doctors pioneered this lifesaving procedure.
• Our transplant team is very experienced in preparing children and teens for stem cell transplant and helping them recover. We have developed better ways to prepare kids for transplant. The result is fewer complications and better survival.
• Children with cancer receive transplants through our Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.
• See details on the number of stem cell transplants we do each year and survival rates for children who receive them.

The Right Care for Your Child

• The complications of bone marrow failure can be life threatening. Our doctors are nationally known for treating children and teens with this condition.
• Our Bone Marrow Failure Program brings together doctors from many different specialties to care for your child. We tailor the team to your child’s needs, with experts in marrow failure, genetics and the immune system.
• Our experts look for the specific cause of your child’s bone marrow failure. Although rare, it may be related to an abnormal gene passed down from parents to children. Our genetic counselor can talk with you about the pros and cons of genetic testing and explain test results.
• For some children, bone marrow failure is cured by a transfusion of young blood-forming cells from a healthy donor. This is called a stem cell transplant. Our Non-Malignant Transplant Program specializes in stem cell transplants for children with noncancer disorders. Our transplant team is very experienced in preparing children for transplant and helping them recover.

Support for Your Whole Family

• At Seattle Children’s, we focus on your whole child, not just their disease. Your family has a full team behind you, taking care of your child’s medical, physical, learning, emotional and comfort needs. Read about the supportive care we offer.
• Child life specialists work with you and your child to help you relieve tension, ease fears and feel more in control about your family’s hospital experience.
• We know teens and young adults with cancer have different challenges than children and older adults. Our Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program (AYA)focuses on their needs. We offer fertility preservation if treatment might harm their ability to become parents.
• We work with children and families from around the Northwest and beyond. Whether you live nearby or far away, we can help with financial counseling, schooling, housing, transportation, interpreter services and spiritual care. Read about our services for patients and families.

Keeping Cancer Survivors Healthy After Treatment

• We are committed to your child’s overall well-being, both during and after treatment.
• Long after treatment ends, we will check on your child’s health. We watch for possible long-term side effects from treatment and suggest ways to stay healthy.
• Our Cancer Survivor Program provides long-term follow-up care after cancer treatment and is led by an international thought leader in survivorship research.

Here When You Need Us

• Having a child with a serious illness can be scary. We help take positive steps right away. We offer appointments within one to three days for children who are suspected to have cancer or a blood condition with urgent needs. If needs are not urgent, new patients can be seen in one or two weeks.
• Seattle Children’s full range of services is provided at our hospital campus in Seattle. Around the clock, including weekends and holidays, your child can count on care from a board-certified specialist in cancer and blood disorders.
• Every two months, we hold a Blood Disorders Clinic at our Tri-Cities Outreach Clinic. Children with most types of blood disorders can be seen there.
• For babies, children and teens with sickle cell disease, we provide most care at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District. We also consult with patients, families, doctors and school staff who are too far away to visit us in person.
• See our locations and contact information.

Contact Us

If you would like an appointment, ask your child’s primary care provider to refer you.

If you have a referral or would like a second opinion, contact the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at 206-987-2106 or by email.

Providers, see how to refer a patient.