In treatment

Your child will receive treatment according to their individual plan. This may involve multiple hospital visits, outpatient appointments, and ongoing monitoring to manage side effects and assess treatment effectiveness. Keeping your child safe is the most important consideration when deciding where treatment can be delivered. Some treatments can only be delivered in Bristol.

The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children team work in close partnership with hospitals around the South West to deliver chemotherapy and follow up where possible as close to home ("shared care"). These hospitals are Gloucester Royal Hospital, Royal United Hospital Bath, Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton, Yeovil District Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Derriford Hospital Plymouth and Royal Cornwall Hospital Truro.

At each shared care unit, there will be a dedicated team supporting children with cancer. The aim will be to give as much treatment as is safe and appropriate for the child to receive in their local hospital.

If your child is required to be in hospital in Bristol, the Bristol team will aim to arrange local charity accommodation where required:

Treatment may be a single treatment method (eg surgery), or a combination of treatments (eg surgery and radiotherapy). The consultant (oncologist or haematologist) will discuss a suitable course of treatment designed for your child.

Common treatment methods

Surgery: aims to remove the tumour during an operation
Chemotherapy: using anti-cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells
Radiotherapy: using radiation to destroy cancer cells
Stem cell and bone marrow transplants: involving high doses of chemotherapy drugs followed by an infusion of blood stem cells
Immunotherapy: specific drugs that target particular cancer cells
Targeted therapy: drugs that work differently to chemotherapy by blocking specific proteins and genes in cancer cells.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are medical research studies involving people. All new treatments have to be thoroughly tested. Clinical trials represent the gold standard for treating children's cancer. Wherever possible, children and teenagers from the South West are offered entry into relevant clinical trials.

Genomic Medicine

Genomic medicine uses insights from a patient's DNA (called a genome) to inform their healthcare and cancer treatment.

Treatment beyond the South West

The majority of children and adolescents will be treated in Bristol or the South West, but a few cancers will need to be treated elsewhere in the country. Those requiring surgery for liver tumours and bone sarcomas as part of their cancer treatment have their operations at surgical centres in Birmingham. In addition, patients with retinoblastoma are under the joint care of Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the National Retinoblastoma services in Birmingham or London. Other tumour surgery is performed here at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

More information on these hospitals can be found in the Our Hospitals section.