Maimonides Cancer Center6300 Eighth Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220
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Phone: (718) 765-2600
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Director, Hematology and Medical Oncology (718) 765-2600
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Our Treatment Services
There are three main categories of treatment for hematologic malignancies: chemotherapy, biological therapy and radiation therapy. In recent years, there have been a number of new developments in the field of hematologic malignancies, and the Maimonides Cancer Center team has vast experience and expertise with all of these innovative treatments.
At the Maimonides Cancer Center, we feature an entire multidisciplinary team dedicated to the treatment of hematologic malignancies. This team of specialists works closely together to develop the best treatment plan for each individual patient, taking into account the latest scientific discoveries, as well as the patient’s age and overall medical condition.
Chemotherapy has long been the mainstay of treatment for hematological malignancies. During chemotherapy, medicines – given either by vein or by mouth – attack cancer cells in the body by preventing them from dividing. We offer the latest proven chemotherapy treatments, all delivered to patients in our beautiful, modern infusion suite. Members of our medical oncology team specialize in the various hematologic cancers, and have the knowledge and expertise necessary to match the disease with the best therapies.
Biological therapies, or immunotherapy, are also medicines that can be given by mouth or by vein. However, unlike chemotherapies that attack the cancer directly, biological therapies attack cancer cells by using the immune system or by blocking chemical reactions that are unique to the specific cancer cell being treated.
Two of the latest biological therapies offered at Maimonides are monoclonal antibodies and radioimmunotherapy. Monoclonal antibodies work by targeting certain molecules in the body and attaching themselves to those molecules. This causes some cancer cells to die and makes others more likely to be destroyed by chemotherapy and radiation, thereby enhancing the value of those therapies. Radioimmunotherapy involves monoclonal antibodies with radioactive particles, which attach themselves directly to the cancer cell and damage it with small amounts of radiation without injuring nearby healthy tissue.
Maimonides Cancer Center’s medical oncologists follow the latest treatment guidelines of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). They are also involved with clinical research protocols for innovative agents or dosing methods, thereby giving our patients access to state-of-the-art therapies that are not widely available elsewhere.
Radiation therapy—directing a high-energy beam at areas of the body harboring cancer—may also be a part of the treatment plan for hematologic cancers. The Maimonides Cancer Center offers the very latest evidence-based radiation treatments in our state-of-the-art radiation therapy unit, which has been recognized as one of the safest and most accurate units in the country.
Our dedicated radiation oncologists and medical physicists and therapists utilize state-of-the-art treatment planning equipment to pinpoint the tumors and spare unnecessary toxicity to the normal tissues. Once a treatment plan is developed, our radiation oncology team uses the most advanced therapies available for radiation delivery, including Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), and 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT).