World Class Cancer Care Close to Home The Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital
2022 Update Research Affiliate of Roswell Park Cancer Institute
At The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital, our mission is to provide our patients with the highest quality cancer care in a sensitive, respectful and compassionate manner. Supported by some of the most advanced technologies available anywhere and a state-of-the-art Cancer Institute, our physicians are focused on applying the tools of modern medicine to achieve the best possible outcomes for each patient in our community. In this context, we are delighted to highlight important programmatic developments, technological investments and physician recruitment while providing updates on our unwavering commitment to clinical research and patient satisfaction.
Updates on Lung Cancer Program At The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital, our Lung Cancer program has continued to expand into a strong multi-disciplinary approach amongst the specialists. There have been two notable recruitments in the past year. We are happy to welcome, Ashish Sangal, MD, who serves as Director of Thoracic Oncology and Clinical Research. In addition, Sharad Chandrika, MD, has joined our team as the System Director of Interventional Pulmonary Medicine. They join our strong team of existing medical medical and radiation oncologists and thoracic surgeons at our Cancer Institute. Good Samaritan is also proud to announce the first Monarch Roboticassisted bronchoscopy program in Suffolk County. With this equipment, Dr. Chandrika will have the opportunity to provide outstanding quality of care to our patients through providing bronchoscopic visualization of and access to patient airways for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with the goal of improving the way peripheral lung nodules are seen and diagnosed. 2
The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital
Announcements Yi-Chun Lee, MD Catholic Health has named Yi-Chun Lee, MD, Chairman of Women’s Health Services. Prior to joining Catholic Health in August 2021, Dr. Lee was Professor and Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Division and Fellowship Program, as well as the Department Director of Obstetrics & Gynecology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn. A board-certified gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Lee specializes in diagnosing and treating malignant and pre-malignant conditions impacting female reproductive organs. Also as an expert in robotics and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, he will see patients at Catholic Health’s Center for Gynecologic Oncology in Babylon and will be part of the team of experts at The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Jennifer L. McEachron, DO The Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital is proud to announce that Jennifer McEachron, DO, has joined the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. McEachron completed her residency training at Good Samaritan and received fellowship training in gynecologic oncology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. While her passion is delivering outstanding patient care, Dr. McEachron is an accomplished researcher and has published 24 peer-reviewed manuscripts over the past five years.
Vikram Soni, MD The Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital is proud to announce that Vikram Soni, MD, has joined the Department of Radiation Oncology. After internal medicine training at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Dr. Soni completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was named Chief Resident. Dr. Soni has been published in a number of journals related to cancer imaging, neuro-oncology and radiation oncology.
The Cancer Institute Radiosurgery Program Adds Functional Radiosurgery to its Growing List of Capabilities As the first program in New York State to perform Hyper Arc radiosurgery, the radiosurgery team at the Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital has trained physicians from around the world. The radiosurgery program has treated more than 100 patients with brain and spine tumors in both 2020 and 2021. To remain at the forefront of radiosurgery technology, Good Samaritan proudly announces the addition of the Integrated Collimator Verification & Interlock System and the Eclipse Cone Planning Package to the existing Varian TrueBeam® radiation platform. This technology will allow Good Samaritan neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to treat trigeminal neuralgia as well as other neurosurgical functional pathologies such as hemifacial spasm and movement disorders.
Trigeminal neuralgia is defined as a unilateral painful disorder that is characterized by brief, electricshock-like pains, is abrupt in onset and termination, and is limited to the distribution of one or more divisions of the trigeminal nerve. Stereotactic radiosurgery is an effective treatment modality for patients with refractory trigeminal neuralgia. This addition will allow the treatment of patients with trigeminal neuralgia at Good Samaritan. Currently, these patients can only be managed medically and approximately 30% become refractory within the first 3 years after diagnosis. One of the main features that differentiates the Radiosurgery Center at the Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan from the
Updates in Gynecologic Oncology and Women’s Health Here at Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan, the goal of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology is to provide the highest level of care for patients with gynecologic malignancies both surgically and medically. Our experts perform advanced minimally invasively surgical procedures with traditional laparoscopy and our state-of-the-art robotic surgical system, the da Vinci Xi.™ We administer chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy for the optimal treatment of gynecologic cancer. As gynecologic oncologists, we work in close collaboration with radiation oncology and medical oncology colleagues to develop individualized treatment plans to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. Additionally, we work closely with our genetic counselors and perform tumor specific molecular testing to individualize treatment on a patient-to-patient basis. We practice evidence based medicine and actively participate in clinical research to continue to develop the future of oncology. We are committed to the care of our patients and the development of a premier gynecologic oncology program at Good Samaritan.
multiple other radiation platforms in the surrounding community is the multidisciplinary management and care of patients. To provide the highest quality and best outcomes, all patients are evaluated and assessed by both a neurosurgeon and a radiation oncologist. The radiation delivery plan and follow-up is created and managed by both teams. It is truly a collaborative effort. The neurosurgeon plays an active role in the radiosurgical planning, dose determination and radiation delivery. This is a practice which is not routine at most facilities. The program is led by Symeon Missios, MD, who has fellowship training in neurosurgical oncology and stereotactic radiosurgery, and Radiation Oncologist Vikram Soni, MD.
da Vinci Xi ™ System As a new tool in the fight against gynecologic and prostate cancer, Good Samaritan recently acquired the da Vinci Xi™ Surgical System to complement its already existing surgical robot. This allows for the latest advances in performing complex, minimally invasive procedures, through just a few tiny incisions. This leads to less pain and quicker recovery. The new Xi™ model allows physicians to go into multiple quadrants, working in nearly 360 degrees. The da Vinci Xi™ expands on the previous da Vinci systems to now include: • A new design featuring an overhead instrument arm architecture to assist with anatomical access from nearly all positions • New endoscope digital architecture with a simple, compact design with improved vision and clarity • Greater range of motion through smaller, thinner arms with newly designed joints • Longer instrument shafts allowing for greater operative reach The da Vinci Xi™ system allows for complex pelvic surgeries and also sentinel lymph node mapping procedures for endometrial cancer. The da Vinci Xi™ system is a key element of Good Samaritan’s robust robotic surgery programs in the fields of gynecology oncology, urologic oncology and lung cancer surgery. 2022 Annual Report Update
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Personalizing Radiation Therapy for Patients with Distant Metastases
Clinical Oncology Research
Researchers at Catholic Health Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan and Roswell Park Cancer Institute recently published an important study in cancer medicine. Over the past several years, physicians at Good Samaritan developed a prognostic tool to more accurately predict survival for patients with stage IV cancer who were referred to the Department of Radiation Oncology. By applying this model, which is more accurate than previously published models, Good Samaritan radiation oncologists were able to select patients with a better prognosis for more intensive radiation therapy and patients with a worse prognosis for shorter courses of palliative radiation therapy. In this study, patients selected for higher dose intensity radiation had a median survival of 16.0 months vs. 3.8 months for lower dose intensity radiation. Importantly, the most favorable group of patients with distant metastases had a five-year overall survival of approximately 30%.
In March 2019, Catholic Health became a Research Affiliate of Roswell Park Cancer Institute with the first clinical trial activated at Good Samaritan in October 2020 and Good Samaritan being approved as a member of the NCI Alliance Corporative group for federally funding clinical trials. In the past year, Good Samaritan has activated 17 trials giving our community access to a diverse trial portfolio in various disease sites. The research team at the Good Samaritan Cancer Institute have enrolled more than 30 patients in the past year.
The research was led by Cancer Institute Director Johnny Kao, MD, and co-authors include Cancer Institute members John Loscalzo, MD, Ashish Sangal, MD, Boramir Darachiev, MD, Symeon Missios, MD and Research Coordinator Samantha Frontario. Additional co-authors include Mark Farrugia, MD, PhD and Anurag Singh, MD, from Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This research was partially supported by funding provided by the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation. To further extend this research, Good Samaritan is actively enrolling patients on the ASTEROID randomized trial, developed by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This trial is investigating whether single dose stereotactic body radiotherapy is an even more effective method of delivering dose intensive radiation for selected patients with distant metastases. The full article is available for download by scanning this QR code or visiting https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34595844/
Cancer Survivor’s Day Due to COVID-19, Good Samaritan was again unable to host its Cancer Survivor’s Day event in 2021. The hospital continues to look forward to reconnecting with survivors and celebrating their milestones in person. In the absence of this event, Good Samaritan continued its unique tradition and recognized its patients with the gift of a collectible Cancer Survivor’s Day pin and message from hospital president Ruth E. Hennessey. “This token is in celebration of your strength, courage and determination during your battle against this disease,” stated President Ruth E. Hennessey. In addition, Good Samaritan recognized the 10th Anniversary of its Women’s Imaging Center in a new video highlighting important information from its expert team of breast health specialists. Scan this QR code to view this video.
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