Recognized as a Top 50 Cancer Program by U.S. News & World Report 2025-2026

Blood cancers are the most common types of cancer in children. Leukemia and lymphoma account for nearly 40 percent of all childhood cancers. We have the expertise to successfully treat these complex conditions in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. With our comprehensive approach to blood cancer treatment, we’re able to offer many children a cure.

We understand the toll leukemia and lymphoma treatment can take on children and their families. Our compassionate team is here to provide the support your child and family need while navigating blood cancer treatment.

Why Choose Johns Hopkins All Children’s

Our patients and families receive care from a devoted team that provides individualized attention, treatment and emotional support. Your child’s care team will be with you and your family throughout the process, helping every step of the way, and we work closely with specialists throughout the hospital to provide your child with expert care that meets their unique needs. It is our goal for your child to be cancer-free and to live an active and healthy life.

When your child comes to us for leukemia or lymphoma treatment, you can expect:

• Experience and expertise: We are among the largest programs in Florida for childhood leukemia and lymphoma, seeing about 200 patients per year. Our team treats about 30 to 60 new cases per year and receives additional referrals from throughout the region. That high volume leads to better outcomes for all our patients.

• Advanced treatments: We offer patients advanced chemotherapy and immunotherapy, lifesaving bone marrow transplants and CAR T-cell therapy.

• Expanded safety measures: Our oncology ward is specially designed to help reduce infection transmission. We know that blood cancer treatment can leave children at higher risk for infectious diseases, and we take every precaution to prevent that.

• High success rates: Our innovative treatments are saving the lives of children with blood cancer. We have great success treating children with leukemia or lymphoma.

• Cancer screening program: If one child in your family has an inherited gene mutation (cancer predisposition gene) associated with blood cancer, we can screen siblings, carefully monitoring them for the earliest signs of cancer, as part of our Cancer Predisposition Program.

• Access to clinical trials: Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) and the only Florida-based site in the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN). As such, Johns Hopkins All Children’s serves as a critical access point for early-phase, precision-guided clinical trials for patients across Florida and beyond. Johns Hopkins All Children’s is also a member of the Sunshine Project Consortium and the Beat Childhood Cancer Consortium (BCC) and serves as a site for both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials. 

• Compassionate care: Our multidisciplinary team is committed to supporting you and your child through every step of the process.

Our Approach to Treatment

We offer the most advanced therapies available for childhood lymphoma and leukemia on Florida’s west coast, including:

• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy uses targeted medications to destroy cancer cells. We use varying doses of chemotherapy and sometimes combinations of different chemotherapy drugs. The goal is to put the cancer into remission. Remission means that the body stops making new cancer cells. We also use chemotherapy to prepare your child for a bone marrow transplant.

• Immunotherapy: We use medications, such as nivolumab and brentuximab, that help the body’s immune system target and kill cancer cells.

• Radiation: Doses of high-energy radiation can help kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. Radiation is used in combination with other therapy. Sometimes, we use the combination as part of your child’s preparation for a bone marrow transplant.

• Bone marrow transplant (BMT): A bone marrow transplant can be a lifesaving treatment for aggressive pediatric lymphoma or leukemia. Our expertise with different transplant types means better outcomes for our patients. Learn more about our stem cell and bone marrow transplant program.

• CAR T-cell therapy: We are one of the few pediatric cancer centers in Florida to offer this innovative treatment for childhood lymphoma or leukemia. A patient’s blood cells are genetically modified to recognize and attack cancer cells. Learn more about our CAR T-cell therapy program.

• Clinical trials: Learn more about the clinical trials open to patients at Johns Hopkins All Children’s.