Innovative Treatments, Quality Care

At Catholic Health, you have access to the most advanced radiation therapies that target cancers including brain, breast, gynecologic, lung, and prostate. Your treatment plan is personalized to your needs. We offer non-invasive procedures whenever possible to shorten length of treatment, reduce recovery time, and minimize side effects. With Catholic Health Cancer Institutes across Long Island, we also offer the convenience of not having to travel far from home for the highest level of care.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses high doses of radiation to destroy cancer cells and prevent their spread. Radiation may be delivered externally using advanced technology or internally through a radioactive substance inserted into your body. Radiation may be used in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy or surgery.

Radiation therapy can provide the following benefits:

  • Alleviates cancer symptoms
  • Destroys cancer cells and slows or stops their growth
  • Prevents cancer from returning
  • Shrinks tumors and reduces the pain they cause

Catholic Health offers a full spectrum of radiation therapies.

  • 3D conformal radiation—conforms radiation beams to match your tumor's shape and size for precise targeting.
  • Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI)—involves a smaller treatment area and shorter treatment course than other types of radiation therapy.
  • Brachytherapy—internal radiation treatment in which radiation is placed directly on or near the tumor, often during prostate cancer care.
  • Electron beam radiation therapy—uses high-energy radiation beams to eliminate cancer cells.
  • Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy—uses precise positioning and delivery to aim radiation from multiple angles on tumors located in sensitive areas of your body.
  • Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT)—incorporates imaging techniques to treat cancers and tumors near sensitive organs and body parts.
  • Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)—uses advanced technology to manipulate radiation beams to conform to the shape of your tumor.
  • Radioisotope therapy—a liquid form of radiation that’s administered through injection or infusion.
  • Surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT)—uses an advanced technology called an Optical Surface Monitoring System (OSMS) to provide pinpoint accuracy with greater speed and precision.
  • Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT)—precisely delivers radiation to only the intended area to spare.
  • AlignRT—tracks a patient’s position before and during radiation therapy to improve treatment accuracy. It has been shown to facilitate Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) to reduce heart dosage for patients with left breast cancer. AlignRT is also used to precisely perform frameless stereotactic radiosurgery for brain tumors that eliminates the need for invasive head frames.

Varian Technology

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Catholic Health offers Varian TrueBeam® at Good Samaritan Hospital (West Islip, NY) and St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® (Roslyn, NY).

Varian TrueBeam® is stereotactic radiosurgery, a procedure that delivers high doses of radiation to cancer cells. This advanced technology allows your physician to focus the radiation on cancerous tumors with accuracy and precision.

During treatment, the TrueBeam rotates around your body to deliver a prescribed radiation dose from nearly any angle. The radiation beam can be shaped to match your tumor. This reduces the damage to any nearby healthy tissue. The process is effective using 25% less radiation than other radiation treatments and is faster to complete.

When compared to other methods of stereotactic radiosurgery, Varian TrueBeam® provides the following benefits:

  • High-resolution, real-time imaging provides precise targeting of cancer cells.
  • Radiation beam delivery can be timed to correspond with your breathing. This helps maintain accuracy when movement can be an issue, such as during lung cancer treatment.
  • Treatment can be completed in as few as five sessions lasting about 15 minutes each.
  • Some treatments take as little as two minutes to perform.
  • Detects cancer cells without metallic markers or trackers inserted into the treatment area.

Catholic Health offers Varian Edge® at Good Samaritan Hospital (West Islip, NY).

Varian Edge® is radiosurgery that uses focused beams of radiation to shrink and kill cancer cells. Although it is called surgery, the procedure does not require an incision. It typically takes one to five sessions over the course of one week.

Varian Edge® technology allows your physician to deliver precise doses of radiation exactly where it’s needed. This process is faster than more traditional treatment and does less damage to healthy tissues.

When compared to traditional radiation treatments, Varian Edge® radiosurgery provides the following benefits:

  • Better visibility allows more precise placement of radiation.
  • Faster process takes less time to complete.
  • Highly targeted placement of radiation reduces damage to healthy tissues surrounding cancer cells.
  • No incisions and no hospital stay are required.
  • Quicker recovery with a lower chance of side effects.
  • Rapid return to regular activity.
  • Real-time tracking capabilities improve the efficiency and precision of your treatments.

Catholic Health offers Varian HyperArc™ at Good Samaritan Hospital (West Islip, NY). The hospital was the first hospital on Long Island to use HyperArc™.

HyperArc™ high-definition radiotherapy uses the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System. At Good Samaritan Hospital, this advanced technology is used to manage brain tumors and allows the real-time tracking of the brain tumor during a procedure. Fully automated robotic treatment delivery allows for safe, accurate and comfortable treatment of multiple brain tumors without the need for an invasive headframe.

varian edge
Varian Edge®
varian true beam
Varian TrueBeam®

Radiation Medicine at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® (Roslyn, NY)

St. Francis Hospital radiation medicine is offered at:

The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital
2200 Northern Boulevard
East Hills, NY 11548
516-222-2020

View The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital

dr. alan katz

Dr. Alan Katz 

Dr Anne Vinokur

Dr. Anne Vinokur

Radiation Medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital (West Islip, NY)

Good Samaritan Hospital radiation medicine is offered at:

The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital
111 Beach Drive
West Islip, NY 11795
631-376-4047

View The Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital

Dr. Johnny Kao

Dr. Johnny Kao, Director, Cancer Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital

Radiation Medicine Locations

Location

Good Samaritan University Hospital Radiation Medicine (Oncology)

West Islip, NY Specialty Center

Location

St. Francis Hospital Radiation Medicine (Oncology)

East Hills , NY Specialty Center

Exclusive Clinical Trials

Catholic Health's commitment to the prevention and treatment of cancer is strengthened by our affiliation with Roswell Park, one of the nation's leading cancer research institutes, and our membership in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. This gives our Long Island cancer patients exclusive access to the newest and most innovative cancer treatments available only through clinical trials.

View our latest clinical trials

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