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Research at the Greenzang Lab

Overview

The Greenzang lab’s research seeks to improve the health and quality of life of children, adolescents, and young adults (AYAs) with cancer during treatment and in survivorship. Our goal is to improve awareness of and 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.​​

 

Research Program

We take multiple approaches to optimizing quality of life and improving communication about potential toxicities of cancer treatment. 

  1. Developing digital health interventions to improve communication, support decision-making, facilitate home care, and promote engagement in risk-based long-term follow-up care:
  • 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 AYA Cancer – my.NaviGATE: 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 AYAs do not receive sufficient information about the late effects they may experience, and many do not receive optimal long-term follow-up care. This project focuses on refining and testing an App to improve patient-centered communication about late effects of AYA cancer therapy and to support engagement in survivorship care. ​ 

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  1. 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. 

  • We seek to understand what aspects of cancer treatment are most problematic and least tolerable for pediatric and AYA patients, and to develop strategies to measure tolerability of treatment in clinical trials in a way that reflects patient priorities.