New NYU Clinical Cancer Center On Target for Summer Opening

In the future, more and more cancer centers will offer outstanding, comprehensive outpatient care in one convenient setting. At the Medical Center, the future will arrive later this summer, when the NYU Clinical Cancer Center, which is part of the NYU Cancer Institute, opens. As cancer care continues to evolve, academic medical centers like NYU are fast becoming the treatment centers of choice for many patients.

Artist’s rendering of the NYU Clinical Cancer Center

Not only can such institutions harness vast resources and innovative research to provide optimal care, but they can also centralize their services within a single facility. Cancer treatment requires a battery of tests for diagnosis, a multitude of therapies for treatment, and a host of specialized services for psychosocial support.

At the Clinical Cancer Center, which is nearing completion on East 34th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, services such as prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, genetic counseling, and psychosocial support will all be housed under one roof, on an outpatient basis. Specialized testing and surgical procedures will continue to be performed in other areas of the Medical Center, but the Clinical Cancer Center will serve as home base for patients needing cancer care. The new building provides 85,000 square feet of space on 13 levels—two below ground and 11 above— and will be staffed by some 200 employees.

The Clinical Cancer Center will include several multidisciplinary clinical care centers; each of these specialty centers will focus on the care of patients with specific cancers, such as those of the breast and female reproductive system, digestive tract, prostate, brain, lung, blood, head and neck, and skin (melanoma). “The Clinical Cancer Center responds to a growing shift in the delivery of cancer care, with some 85 to 90 percent of cancer care provided in an outpatient setting,” explains Steven J. Burakoff, M.D., Director of the NYU Cancer Institute. “The benefits are clear: patients can return to their homes and families the same day, and the cost of care is reduced.” Having all oncology professionals headquartered in the center will also enhance research, making it easier to collect and analyze data from patients in clinical trials. Programs training the healthcare professionals of the future will have a home there, too, particularly the education of radiation oncologists. “NYU believes in personalized patient care,” says James L. Speyer, M.D., Associate Director of Clinical and Hospital Operations for the NYU Cancer Institute. “The new Center will further enhance the quality of the care we deliver.”

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE CLINICAL CANCER CENTER

• A Center for Women’s Cancers, meeting the medical and nonmedical needs of women with breast and gynecological cancers.
  
• A Women's Boutique, offering products and services for women who have had breast surgery or are undergoing chemotherapy.
  
• A Screening and Diagnostic Center, with an on-site team to ensure prompt reading of imaging films and test results.
  
• An Infusion Center for patients who need intravenous therapies.
  
• A Radiation Treatment Center, making the NYU Cancer Institute the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in New York City to offer radiation therapy in a freestanding outpatient facility.
  
• Support services for patients and their families.
  
• A Cancer Education and Resource Center, featuring a Cancer Information Specialist to help patients and families find relevant information.