Specialized Programs – Experimental Therapeutics Program (ETP)

The Experimental Therapeutics Program (ETP) at The Children’s Hospital Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders is committed to serving those patients with recurrent illness, those whose disease has been refractory to traditional treatment and those with a diagnosis that has no reasonable curative prospect. The medical staff of ETP offers children, adolescents and young adults access to Phase I trials and First-in-Pediatrics protocols that are available at a very limited number of institutions.  As a member of the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators Consortium (P.O.E.T.I.C.), The Children’s Hospital ETP program is one of nine centers in the United States and Canada that can offer certain experimental therapies to patients with relapsed or refractory disease.  The specific protocols open at any one time vary and eligibility criteria are strict.  The Children’s Hospital ETP physicians and personnel have worked with patients from 23 states and many foreign countries. 

Clinical Services and Programs

• Staffed by
  • Board-certified Pediatric Oncologists, specializing in Phase I and Phase II trials
  • Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
  • Experienced Oncology Registered Nurses
  • Investigational Pharmacists
  • Research Subject Advocate
• Founding member of the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators’ Consortium, an international association dedicated to the advancement of promising therapies for the treatment of cancer in children, adolescents and young adults
• One of 16 Pediatric Clinical Translational Research Centers in the country
• Offers consultations about entry into early clinical trials of novel therapeutic strategies and agents
• Reviewed for medical and ethical integrity by the Scientific Review Committee of the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board

Patient and Family Support Programs

• Adolescent and young adult program
• Bereavement follow-up
• Brain tumor support/education group
• Brent Eley Foundation
• Butterfly Program for Palliative/Hospice Care Management
• Camp programs for patients and siblings
• Lodging assistance
• Look Good…Feel Better^® program for adolescents and young adults
• Make-A-Wish
• Other wish organizations
• Parent support groups
• Project Challenge Ski program
• Recreational services for the physically disabled
• Robbie's Friends Family Program
• Rocky Mountain Adventures for Siblings
• Spanish-speaking family support group
• Wilderness Program

Specialized Surgical Services

• Liver, kidney, eye, head and neck, cardiac, bowel, bladder, etc.
• Minimally invasive procedures (thorascopy/laparoscopy; image-guided techniques)
• Neurosurgery; stereotactic techniques
• Orthopedic (limb preservation)
• Special resection techniques
• Venous access

Subspecialty consultation/management expertise in every area is available 24 hours per day.