The Costas Center

The Costas Center at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon is a member of multiple research groups – most notably the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) and Beat Childhood Cancer (BCC) – that offer front-line treatments, research to determine the underlying biology of the disease and clinical trials for new and emerging treatments.

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon was one of the first and remains the only pediatric hospital in the region to join the BCC group. The 50 BCC member institutions have focused their research on children's tumors at diagnosis and relapse, working to understand how each tumor is behaving and why. This allows doctors to add targeted therapies to standard of care, laser-focused for each child’s unique needs.

Donor support allows us to have two specially trained clinical research nurses who make it possible for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon to participate in these trials, from managing patient safety to data management and everything in between.

DID YOU KNOW?

30 Costas Center patients were enrolled in a promising clinical trial for neuroblastoma. The trial drug improved survival rates to as high as 90% over the last 10 years and is now in review for FDA approval.