Radiation Oncology

Technologies & Services

The Julia and Ned Arnold Center for Radiation Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens provides a wide range of radiation treatments using state-of-the-art equipment. Our expert physicians and scientists work together to develop your individual treatment plan — one that will most effectively fight your cancer while sparing normal tissue as much as possible. We also collaborate with our colleagues at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center to connect patients with technologies that are not widely available at other hospitals.

Simulation

Simulation is an important part of your treatment plan. It involves the assessment of your tumor's location, shape, size, and density so we can carefully develop and design your radiation treatments with precision. Using our CT simulator, we are able to perform a CT scan and a simulation of the area to be treated at the same time, making this process accurate and convenient. This equipment produces 3D images of your internal anatomy which helps our doctors precisely locate the area to be targeted as well as identify nearby critical structures.

Brachytherapy

Our Brachytherapy Center is recognized as a Center of Excellence for delivering brachytherapy, also known as internal radiation therapy. Brachytherapy involves the placement of radioactive material inside the body. It may be given as interstitial therapy (implanted in catheters or directly into the tissue), intracavitary therapy (placed in body cavities), or intraluminal therapy (placed in an airway or blood vessel). Our center offers the two main types of brachytherapy: low dose rate (LDR) and high dose rate (HDR).

• LDR involves implanting low-activity radioactive seeds in or near a tumor for an extended period (a few days) or permanently.
• HDR involves using an "afterloader," which temporarily places a high-activity radioactive catheter in or near a tumor for a much shorter time (a few minutes).

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)

Tumors often change in size throughout radiation treatment. With IGRT, images are taken prior to each treatment to make the treatment as precise as possible, ensuring that the tumor is accurately targeted during each session. IGRT combines traditional radiation treatment with a simultaneous CT scan, allowing the physician to make any adjustments needed to make the treatment as accurate as possible. Treatments that once took 20 to 30 minutes may be completed in less than two minutes.

Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)

IMRT is an advanced mode of highly precise radiotherapy that allows for the radiation dose to conform more precisely to the three-dimensional contours of the tumor. IMRT also permits higher radiation doses to be directed to regions within the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissues. IMRT greatly enhances our ability to tailor the radiation dose to each patient's anatomy.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)

With SBRT, we can deliver extremely precise doses of radiation with sophisticated image guidance to cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Pencil-thin beams of radiation target the diseased area in continuous arcs, while the patient lies still in a special frame used to guide therapy. CT imaging is used before each treatment to ensure the highest level of accuracy. The entire treatment is completed over three to five days.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) for the Brain

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens offers linear accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery in which a single focused pencil-thin radiation beam is applied in multiple sweeps around a brain lesion. This highly accurate form of therapy is ideal for the treatment of certain types of tumors, including inoperable cancers. The treatment is either given in a single session (stereotactic radiosurgery) or over multiple treatment sessions (fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy), depending on the patient's needs.

Volume Modulated ARC Therapy (VMAT)

VMAT is an advanced technology for treating tumors. With this technique, radiation beams sweep in an uninterrupted arc(s) around the patient — dramatically speeding treatment delivery, reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissues, and resulting in higher treatment effectiveness.

Electric Field Therapy for Brain Cancer

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens offers electric field therapy for some patients with glioblastoma. The patient wears a special cap that contains wires that transmit low-intensity wavelike electric fields through adhesive patches applied to the scalp. The fields are designed to interfere with tumor cell division and growth. Your doctor will let you know if this treatment is an option for you.

Radioisotope Treatment for Prostate Cancer

In collaboration with our colleagues at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the radiation oncologists at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens offer Xofigo® (radium 223 dichloride) radioisotope therapy for men with advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bone and is causing symptoms, but has not spread to other parts of the body. Given by injection, the medicine in Xofigo travels to sites of metastatic cancer in the bones where the radioactive radium can kill cancer cells.