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Our History

Since the first patient walked through its doors in 1944, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has treated thousands of children in its quest to make cancer history. In 1955, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center opened an inpatient unit specifically dedicated for children with cancer. Since that time, the pediatric oncologists and specialists at M. D. Anderson have forged new paths in cancer therapy for children.

During the past fifty years, our team has:

  • Pioneered new drug therapies for cancers of the bones and muscles
  • Achieved the first successful therapy for inoperable Wilms’ tumor (kidney cancer)
  • Initiated a limb salvage surgical technique for bone tumor patients
  • Made groundbreaking research in the effective use of chemotherapy to cure pediatric brain tumors instead of radiation
  • Became one of the first centers to use cord blood transplantation in children
  • Demonstrated that the M. D. Anderson developed drug, clofarabine, is effective against pediatric acute leukemia and achieved FDA approval
  • Innovated a novel therapy to treat tumors that have spread to the lungs
  • Engineered and performed a life-saving surgery for children with tumors that have metastasized in the abdominal section

These accomplishments and many more have stemmed from the foundation of research at M. D. Anderson. In 2005, our pediatric program was renamed the Children’s Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The renaming marked the 50th anniversary of the pediatric program and aimed to send the message that children and cancer are a priority at M. D. Anderson.

The Children’s Cancer Hospital is home to one of the largest multidisciplinary pediatric cancer care programs in the nation caring for approximately 1,700 children a year. Because our primary focus is cancer, we see more types of cancer than any other children’s hospital in Houston or Texas.

Contact Us

Questions? Need help?
Want to request an appointment?

Call the Children's Cancer Hospital

713-792-5410

(Toll-Free) 888-543-2435

Or call askMDAnderson

1-877-MDA-6789


© 2009 The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center