The Greenzang lab’s research focuses on optimizing patient-provider communication and shared decision-making in children with cancer. Our goal is to improve communication about short and long-term side effects of cancer therapy to help patients and families make informed treatment decisions and to optimize quality of life for children with cancer during treatment and in survivorship. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Research Program
Electronic Health (eHealth) Interventions to Improve Communication and Support Decision-Making:
Expectations for Pediatric Cancer Treatment (EXPECT): Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric malignancy. While there are high survival rates after 2 years of chemotherapy, there are also many potential acute and long-term effects of treatment. In this study, we are developing a family-centered website to improve communication about what to expect from all phases of pediatric ALL treatment and survivorship.
Improving Early Communication about Late Effects of Pediatric Cancer - Inform.Prepare.Decide: Long-term and late effects of cancer or its treatment are long-lasting side effects that can start during treatment or after treatment has ended. These side effects can greatly impact health and quality of life. Our research has shown that many parents do not receive sufficient information about the late effects of their child’s cancer. This project focuses on refining and testing an electronic information and decision tool to improve patient-centered communication about late effects of pediatric cancer therapy and to support shared decision-making.
Understanding the Patient Experience of Treatment and Survivorship:
To better understand the impact of treatment on patients’ symptoms and quality of life, we embed validated Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) measures in upfront clinical trials for children, teens, and young adults with bone tumors treated on Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trials.