Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

Emergency Department and hospital volumes

• Patient volumes in the Emergency Department (ED) are typical for summer; we continue to experience surges and high patient acuity in the ED.
• Hospital census was higher this summer than in typical summers pre-pandemic. Significant planning is occurring to prepare for the fall/winter surge.

COVID-19

• We are beginning to see increased SARS-CoV2 activity as our testing positivity is increasing; we expect rates to further rise with the start of school.

Chemotherapy drug supply

• The national shortage of chemotherapy drugs continues.
• We continue to monitor our supply closely and work with our distributors to ensure we have adequate quantities including methotrexate.
• We are coordinating our efforts regionally and nationally to look for long term solutions to ongoing medication shortages that impact patient care.

Emergency Department volumes

A new space opened in the hospital in July to help care for Emergency Department (ED) patients with mental health concerns. The ED still has capacity constraints, especially in the evenings secondary to patient surges and patients who remain in the ED awaiting final disposition. Effective July 18, Seattle Children’s deactivated the code yellow for the surge in youth mental health patients and the Emergency Department (ED). Seattle Children’s continues to update our policies and improve workflows to support mental health patients experiencing extended lengths of stay due to barriers to discharge.

Please continue to call the Mission Control team at 206-987-8899 when sending a patient to the Seattle Children’s ED.

Chemotherapy drug shortages

A nationwide shortage of certain chemotherapy drugs is impacting many hospitals, including Seattle Children’s. It is not yet known when supply will improve. Some of our patients may require changes to their treatment; our care teams are working hard to limit negative impacts. We are working with multiple distributors to secure as much medication as possible. Read full post »

From On the Pulse, July 11, 2023

At just 19 years old, Faye, an avid swimmer and college freshman at Northeastern University, found her life plans on hold when she began experiencing fevers and flu-like symptoms.

When her temperature reached 104 degrees, Faye called an Uber and headed to the nearest emergency department.

While at Boston Medical Center, providers discovered Faye had an abnormally low white blood cell count and kept her overnight.

“The minute they walked in, I knew something was deeply wrong,” recalled Faye.

The doctors explained to Faye and her mom, Molly, that her blood was filled with abnormal, immature white blood cells called blasts; they believed she had leukemia.

Words like “cancer” and “chemotherapy” filled the room, and Faye felt a burning sensation run down her spine while the rest of her body went numb. At the same time, her mom broke down.

“I’ll never forget the sound of her voice when she called my dad to tell him,” shared Faye. “She just lost it.” Read full post »

About BrainChild-04

In May 2023 Seattle Children’s began enrolling patients in a new study of a novel treatment for certain types of brain and spinal cord tumors in children and young adults. These include diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG),  diffuse midline glioma (DMG) and other recurrent or refractory central nervous system tumors that carry a poor prognosis with limited survival.

The BrainChild-04 study is investigating Seattle Children’s Therapeutics’ first CAR T-cell product that targets four antigens simultaneously: B7-H3, EGFR806, HER2 and IL13-zetakine.  This is the first known CAR T-cell product in the world to target four antigens at the same time by delivering CAR T cells directly to the brain.

A long-standing obstacle to successfully treating brain tumors has been the blood-brain barrier, which stops therapeutic medications from reaching their intended targets.

Up to 72 participants between the ages of 1 and 26 are expected to enroll in this phase 1 clinical trial. Read full post »

Dr. Todd Cooper, Oncology section chief and director of Seattle Children’s Pediatric Leukemia/Lymphoma Program, as well as principal investigator in the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, has been appointed to chair the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Myeloid Committee, effective May 1.

The COG is the largest consortium of pediatric hospitals providing oncology services in the world. It unites more than 10,000 cancer experts at about 250 hospitals across North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Cooper, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Evans Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cancer, will be responsible for setting COG’s vision and priorities for clinical/translational research and clinical care for pediatric and young adult malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute myeloid leukemia of Down syndrome (AML-DS), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and other myeloproliferative neoplasms.

He will work with experts throughout COG institutions to develop and conduct blood cancer clinical trials and protocols, as well as working with other international AML consortia to ensure COG’s clinical/translational priorities are synchronized and complementary. Read full post »