Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic
Frequently Asked Questions

The Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital serves children and young adults (< Age 25) who have one or more health issue that increases the risk of childhood cancer. Many of the Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic’s patients are referred from the Cancer Genetics Clinic.

Who does the Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic serve?

The Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic can aid in reducing the risk of cancer and improve early detection of cancers. Here are some children who may benefit:

Cancer-free children with a hereditary predisposition for developing cancer, as confirmed by genetic testing. If your child’s genetic test results show a hereditary predisposition for developing cancer during childhood, they may require ongoing cancer screening and management strategies provided by the clinic.

Cancer-free children with medical conditions that are associated with and increased risk of cancer that requires long-term routine screening. Certain medical conditions can increase your child’s risk for to developing certain types of cancer. If your child has one of these conditions they may benefit from monitoring strategies offered by the Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic

Children who previously have had cancers that have went into partial or complete remission, but still require long-term routine screening and management regimens. If your child is cancer survivor they may require a specialized survivorship monitoring and care plan. The Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic will work with your family and your child’s healthcare team to develop and implement a plan.

Services provided by the Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic

The Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic builds strong relationships with children who have long term cancer screening and prevention needs and their parents.

Long-Term Screening and Management. Cancer prevention and screening regimens are tailored specifically for your child after an initial visit and discussion with the family.

The recommendations may include regular physical exams, laboratory tests, imaging studies, and other evaluations.
Our recommendations are based on the latest medical evidence and are adapted to the needs of each child.
Pre-cancerous lesions and tumors identified through routine screening will be reviewed with the parents and other physicians to decide upon any needed tests.
Screening of this nature has the potential to improve survival and decreased treatment-related life long health issues. The clinic provides ongoing status updates and recommendations on their patients to primary medical providers.

Summary of Cancer Risk and Management Plan for Primary Care Providers. A long-term screening and management plan is not required for all patients. Frequently, a short-term evaluation by the Prevention and Screening Clinic will allow creation of a monitoring strategy that can be used by the patient’s primary care provider. In these instances. the Prevention and Screening clinic will provide a letter to a referring provider summarizing your child’s cancer risks and our recommended management plan.