Families & Communities

When children are diagnosed with cancer, parents often ask their doctors, “How did this happen? Did the environment have something to do with it?” CCEP is at the forefront in helping pediatric health care providers, parents, and caregivers answer this and similar questions. 

Parent of a childhood cancer survivor and journalist, Alexandra Zissu, shared that “When our daughter was diagnosed with Wilms’ Tumor, a kidney cancer, I wanted to know why. Could there be an environmental link?…There was no one on staff at our hospital, one of the top cancer facilities in the country—who asked questions about home environment at intake or gave us any specific environmental advice during or after active treatment. I was left to do my own research. Exhausted patients and caregivers rely on our doctors, nurses, child life specialists—and more—to guide us through this unique hell. I would vastly have preferred to collaborate on her care—as we were able to in every other realm—rather than arrive at my own environmental health conclusions. I’m thrilled to know this project is happening. I know exactly how much it will help many families.”

View our resources for families and communities below.