When your child and your family are faced with a cancer diagnosis, you want and expect best-in-class medical care along with understanding and compassion.

MU Health Care's Children's Hospital offers the care you deserve, close to home. From our leading-edge physicians and research to our social workers, nurses and Child Life specialists, our team is singularly dedicated to healing and nurturing children.

Because Children’s Hospital and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center are both part of MU Health Care, our team has access to the most progressive pediatric oncologists in the region. Our combined knowledge and expertise means your child receives the best possible care. 

State-of-the-art, comprehensive pediatric cancer care

We offer an unmatched combination of leading-edge research and medical care with an individualized, multidisciplinary approach. 

That means your child will receive world-class care from a team of professionals specifically trained in pediatric subspecialties, including:

• Child Life specialists.
• Medical and surgical experts.
• Pathologists.
• Radiation Oncologists.
• Radiologists.
• Social workers.
• Specially trained nurses.
• Other health care consultants.

Exemplary pediatric cancer care with a compassionate touch

Every member of our health care team has been specifically trained in family and pediatric patient-centered care. We understand the emotional health and well-being of your child has an enormous impact on overall health outcomes. We continually nurture the spirit, as well as the body, of every child who walks through our doors.

Our expert team also offers:

• A dedicated social worker, who is trained and experienced in helping families navigate the world of treatment plans and protocols, and communicates with the health care team.
• Child Life Specialists, who make sure your child is comfortable, and, best of all, gets to be a kid, even while undergoing treatment. We use technology like vein viewers, which make finding veins for tests and intravenous (IV) injections easier and less painful. 
• Pascale’s Pals, a central Missouri not-for-profit organization that improves the comfort of our patients and their families. MU Health Care is a proud beneficiary of Pascale's Pals.

Pediatric cancers we treat

Our experts treat a variety of pediatric cancer conditions, including:

• Acquired anemias.
• Congenital anemias, such as hereditary spherocytosis.
• Hemoglobinopathies, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia.
• Hemophilia.
• Immune deficiencies.
• Leukemias.
• Lymphomas.
• Malignant and benign solid tumors.
• Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia.

What to expect at your first visit

When you come into our office for your first visit:

• Our team will gather a complete history and perform a comprehensive physical evaluation on your child.
• Our technician performs a laboratory evaluation for most first-time patients.
• Our team thoroughly discusses your child’s diagnosis, evaluation and plan of treatment with your child and your family.

In addition to highly specialized diagnosis and treatment options, physicians and researchers at University of Missouri conduct a variety of cancer clinical trials.