Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Program

The Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Program cares for children who have a higher risk of developing cancer because of their genes.

Most cancers happen by chance and are not inherited or passed down to children by their parents. In rare cases, a person may be born with a genetic change, called a mutation, that increases his or her risk of cancer. People can inherit these genetic changes from their parent even if their parent hasn’t had cancer. Sometimes, a child can be the first person in the family to have a genetic change causing cancer. These cancers are called inherited or hereditary cancers. Patients with genetic changes that increase their risk of inherited cancers have a cancer predisposition syndrome.

Our team of experts is here to help your child with his or her cancer predisposition syndrome. We assess your child’s risk of developing cancer (or a second cancer) and provide screening to identify the cancer early on and increase the odds of curing it.  

Researchers estimate that about 10% of people with a childhood cancer have a cancer predisposition syndrome. Having a cancer predisposition syndrome does not mean that your child will develop cancer, but he or she is at a greater risk compared with other children.