The Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Service is launched at the Children’s Hospital

The Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Service was set up in 1966, at a time when knowledge and therapeutic resources were still very limited and the probability of survival very low.

September 1966

Three people played a fundamental role in the beginnings of paediatric oncology and haematology at Vall d’Hebron: Dr Jordi Prats and Dr Josep Padullés in oncology and Dr Juanjo Ortega in haematology.
 
At that time, the reality was very different to what it is today. The survival rate did not reach 40%, and in the case of childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia it did not even reach 10%. The chemotherapy drugs available were inefficient and highly toxic. There was a lack of antibiotics and antifungals to effectively treat the infectious complications, which were common in the children undergoing treatment as a consequence of the immunosuppression caused by the chemotherapy. In addition, there were no scanners or ultrasound equipment. The tools for fighting cancer were extremely limited in general.
 
It was not until the 1980s that considerable changes took place that significantly improved patient survival.

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