When a cancer center grows rapidly in just a decade, as NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center has done, it is critically important to maintain the same superb treatment, services, and care that patients deserve across every one of its locations.

So, in 2022, Oren Cahlon, MD, joined NYU Langone to do just that, as senior vice president for network integration and deputy chief clinical officer. Dr. Cahlon also serves as a professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and treats cancer at Perlmutter Cancer Center.

In this interview, Dr. Cahlon discusses his vision to help provide seamless cancer care for patients across all Perlmutter Cancer Center’s locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island, and to expand services and access across the network.

Over the course of your career, you have been in private practice and worked as a clinician and an administrator at academic medical centers. What is your impression of Perlmutter Cancer Center and NYU Langone?

It is an honor and a privilege to be part of a truly exceptional organization that values both its employees and its patients. The leadership team is inspiring, and every employee is extremely proud of the work they do.

Perlmutter Cancer Center is renowned for its cutting-edge research, comprehensive care, and innovative treatments in the field of oncology. Its multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment, which brings together experts from various specialties, truly provides personalized care to each of our patients. The center’s emphasis on translational research, aiming to swiftly apply discoveries from the lab to the clinic, will ultimately improve patient outcomes. NYU Langone’s commitment to quality patient care, education, and research across various medical specialties can be felt throughout the corridors. Together, Perlmutter Cancer Center and NYU Langone represent a formidable force in the fight against cancer.

What is your vision for cancer care across all of Perlmutter Cancer Center’s network sites?

Our focus is to minimize the burden of cancer treatment by providing world-class care in a convenient fashion. Cancer treatment is intense, and it disrupts the work and family lives of our patients, so we try to do everything we can to reduce that burden. We do that by providing easy access and comprehensive services across our many campuses. We have hospitals on Long Island and in Brooklyn, where patients can receive a similar level of care as in Manhattan. We have implemented a clinical trial network throughout NYU Langone, which historically did not exist. Very few health systems can implement clinical trials across an entire system, either due to infrastructure limitations such as in-patient restraints, regulatory oversight, or the absence of an investigational pharmacy.

Although select treatments are still only available in Manhattan, most services are now accessible across the system. Even some of the most complex procedures, such as bone marrow transplants, are increasingly being performed within the network. Perlmutter Cancer Center is one of the few cancer centers in New York City with phase 1 trials available in the network.

Additionally, many of our cancer center sites are within large multispecialty complexes. This is extremely convenient, because many patients with cancer also require other services, such as cardiac, gastrointestinal, and dermatologic care, during their cancer journey. For example, at the recently opened Perlmutter Cancer Center—Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, we provide cancer screening, surgical services, and chemotherapy, as well as primary care, orthopedics, gastrointestinal, neurology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, and obstetrics–gynecology. We also have endoscopy suites, same-day surgery, and comprehensive radiology services.

How does Perlmutter Cancer Center provide seamless care to patients?

Seamless care is integrated, coordinated, efficient, timely, patient-focused care. Patients who visit any one of our doctors should feel confident that they have access to their own medical records, through our integrated electronic medical record (EMR) system. This is not necessarily the case within other health systems. It’s not unheard of for a patient to get testing done at a diagnostic lab, and when they go to the doctor for follow-up, the lab results from the visit at the other office are not available. At NYU Langone, we are completely integrated. No matter which of our over 300 offices patients go to, we have the same information in the EMR. All our physicians have all the laboratory, radiology, and pathology records in the database and can communicate, in real time, via the electronic health record.

Patients can feel the difference at NYU Langone—they have a team working together on their behalf—and constantly communicating. In addition, we prioritize patient convenience and efficiency. We have a robust self-scheduling system through MyChart, our patient portal, that allows patients to schedule many of their own visits. Throughout the system, our patients complete more than 2 million self-scheduled ambulatory appointments. I hear great feedback from patients about this—I think they really appreciate the flexibility and convenience of self-scheduling.

How is Perlmutter Cancer Center improving cancer care for patients served by Long Island Community Hospital in Suffolk County?

Overall, the collaboration between Perlmutter Cancer Center and Long Island Community Hospital aims to enhance the quality of cancer care for patients in Suffolk County by providing comprehensive, patient-centered care that is close to home.

NYU Langone has had a significant presence in Nassau County for many years, and with this affiliation, we are significantly expanding our ambulatory network in Suffolk County. We have hired over 100 doctors in Suffolk County over the past year, ranging from primary care and family medicine to a variety of subspecialties, including several cancer surgeons.

What initiatives have you helped to implement since your arrival at NYU Langone?

We have had a variety of priorities over the past year. One has been to transform the cancer program in Brooklyn into a multidisciplinary, subspecialized, academic program so that patients will not need to leave Brooklyn to receive state-of-the-art care. Dr. Nina D’Abreo—clinical associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine—recently joined Perlmutter Cancer Center—Sunset Park as the new chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology. With her 15 years of experience working with patients with cancer at Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, she understands our culture and is helping us transform the cancer program.

We hired several other highly regarded physicians to join the cancer program at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn. Dr. Donna-Marie E. Manasseh, a clinical professor in the Department of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, recently joined as the new chief of breast surgery. Dr. Manasseh has been practicing in Brooklyn for over 10 years, and she is helping us build a new comprehensive breast program there.

We also have Dr. Fady Khoury-Collado joining us from Columbia University Irving Medical Center as the new chief of gynecologic oncology. Dr. Khoury-Collado is a world-class leader in the field of gynecologic oncology and placenta accreta disorders. In addition, Dr. Oscar Lahoud, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will be joining us on April 1 as the new chief of hematology for NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn. Dr. Lahoud will be leading our hematologic malignancy program, including treatment of acute leukemia, myeloma, and other complex hematologic conditions, which historically were sent out to Manhattan. Through these efforts, we are reaching many more patients in Brooklyn—we have already seen a 25 percent growth in Brooklyn over the past year. I think patients are starting to recognize they no longer need to travel to Manhattan for world-class cancer care.

We are installing a PET/CT simulator, a first for NYU Langone, which will improve our diagnostic evaluation of patients and allow for more-precise radiation therapy planning. We are also adding a second state-of-the-art linear accelerator to increase our capacity for complex treatments, especially stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). For many patients, clinical trials are the best treatment option, and NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn will soon offer a robust clinical trial portfolio.

Access has been another focus for patients across the system. As we have increased our services, patients are recognizing the excellence of our outcomes, and there has been an increasing demand to see our doctors. As a result, getting timely appointments for patients is critically important. We have developed a program to ensure patients can get appointments within one week, at any campus.

Another important initiative over the past year has been the MRI-linear accelerator (MR-LINAC) program in Manhattan—this technology combines a linear accelerator with magnetic resonance imaging, allowing for the most precise form of radiation delivery. Dr. Michael Zelefsky, who is a member of the faculty in the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, is a luminary in the field of radiation oncology and one of the world’s most well-known prostate radiation oncologists, with over 30 years of experience. He was recently recruited to lead the MR-LINAC program: with his expertise and this transformative piece of equipment, we have become one of the leading destination centers for using radiation to treat prostate cancer.

In addition to your role as an administrator, you are also a practicing radiation oncologist. How do those two roles complement each other?

My passion has always been to be a doctor and to treat patients. In fact, I started my career in private practice seeing patients five days a week. Over the years, as I took on more administrative roles, I made a commitment to myself to always maintain my clinical practice. I not only enjoy it, but my experience as a radiation oncologist also allows me to understand the clinical needs and challenges faced by patients and healthcare providers. This helps me make informed decisions regarding patient care, resource allocation, and process improvements.