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PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY / ONCOLOGY Comprehensive services for newborns, infants, children and adolescents with cancer and blood diseases. Appointment Locations / Directions Danbury, CT Hawthorne, NY Middletown, NY New Rochelle, NY Poughkeepsie, NY Suffern, NY Phone: .914-493-7997 Fax:...... 914-594-4022 Directions

Rita Torres
Office Manager

Jasmin Toro
Office Staff

Lakisha Wilson
Billing Coordinator

To discover that your child is severely sick and requires treatment for cancer or a blood disorder is one of life's most difficult moments for parents.

The pediatric oncologists and hematologist within CWPW are committed to providing the most innovative therapies for childhood cancer and blood disorders, as well as developing and perfecting new treatments for preventing these diseases in the future. Both cancer and blood diseases represent a complex challenge.

The division of Pediatric Hematology / Oncology at CWPW consists of board certified pediatric hematologist-oncologists, pediatric oncology nurses,  full time social workers,  clinical research associates, a Ph.D., and research associates in our molecular biology lab

Our dedicated pediatric hematologists and oncologists provide care for children with all forms of cancer and blood diseases, including leukemias, brain tumors, lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease, neuroblastoma, Wilm's tumor, liver tumors, histiocytosis, germ cell tumors, and other rare types of tumors. Our active participation in the Children's Oncology Group Studies makes it possible to provide the most up to date and state of the art treatment regimens to children with any form of cancer, common or rare.

Inpatient care is done at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, at the Marden, Harrison and Kreuter Pediatric Oncology Center, a dedicated pediatric oncology unit with private isolation rooms, three stem cell transplantation rooms, and dedicated pediatric oncology nurses.

Children who need a simple outpatient follow up visit and only simple chemotherapy, by i.v. push, and not infusion chemotherapy, are seen at our office at 19 Bradhurst Avenue, in Hawthorne, NY or at one of the satellite offices. Children who need a outpatient follow up visit and require infusion therapy, are seen at our  Day Hospital (Infusion Center) at the third floor of Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital.

Children who need lumbar punctures and / or intrathecal chemotherapy, or bone marrow aspirates and / or biopsies are seen in the ambulatory surgery unit. Experienced pediatric anesthesiologists provide short anesthesia, using propofol, for such procedures, thus completely avoiding any anxiety and pain involoved. This set up is available routinely, once a week, and as needed, on other days.

The program of blood and marrow (stem cell) transplantation is run under the direction of Dr. Fevzi Ozkaynak, in collaboration with the Westchester Oncology Group. We perform autologous stem cell transplant for various forms of relapsed or refractory solid tumors, and allogenic stem cell transplantations for various leukemias, from matched unrelated blood/marrow/cord blood stem cells. Our center is  FACT approved. We are an approved center for collections and transplantion for NMDP. We are an approved center for Childrens Oncology Group for all types of  blood, cord and marrow transplantation in children. Our autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantations have been very successful with extremely low transplant related morbidity. Our success rate in allogenic transplantation is comparable to most major centers in the country.

Outpatients who require transfusion of red cells or platelets do not have to be admitted to the hospital. Instead, they receive their transfusions in the Hematotherapy Department of Westchester Oncology Service located at 19 Bradhurst Avenue, in Hawthorne, NY. Experienced nurses in this facility are able to provide such service to such patients at short notice. Harvesting of peripheral blood stem cells is also done in this facility for the children who need autologous stem cell transplant for solid tumors. The same pheresis staff is available for inpatients for stem cell harvesting for solid tumor patients, red cell pheresis for sickle cell patients and for plasmapheresis for patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Each patient is assigned a primary nurse at the time of diagnosis, who follows the clinical course of the patient closely, along with the pediatric oncologist. The pediatric oncology nurses educate the parents regarding the side effects of chemotherapy and how to cope with them.

Our pediatric oncology social workers routinely interview all patients for the need for intervention, and provide the needed services such as obtaining insurances for uninsured patients, finding economic support for patients in need and finding accomodations for parents when the child is in the Pediatric ICU. Most patients are also referred to Make a Wish foundation through our social services department.

The vast majority of our patients are enrolled in the COG protocols, so that the children with cancer get the best treatment available today and the treatment for various childhood cancers will continue to improve year after year until all cancers can be cured with minimal treatment related toxicity. The COG studies not only include therapeutic studies, but also biology and epidemiology studies to understand the causes of cancer and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. We participate in all phase II and phase III studies. Physicians from our division have actively participated in the design and execution of some COG studies in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and neuroblastoma.

Comprehensive sickle cell care clinics are held once per month. This service is funded by the New York State Department of Health. In this clinic, we offer paient education, genetic counseling, routine Transcranial Doppler (TCD) screening, social service help and support groups. Patients are seen in this clinic at least once every six months. Those who need to see their physicians in between the clinic visits may still see their physicians at one of the satellite offices.

All children who are treated for cancer are followed at our late effect clinic until the age of 21, to detect and treat any late effects of cancer treatment. In this clinic, they will be seen by their primary oncologist and a pediatric oncology nurse. The type of late effect evaluation depends upon the nature of the treatment, conventional dose chemotherapy, high dose therapy, and / or radiation therapy; and may include bone densitormetry studies, evaluation of reproductive function, cardiac function, and endocrine evaluation.

In the hemophilia clinic, held once per month, we provide comprehensive care, including patient education and training for home infusion program, prophylactic as well as episodic care, genetic counseling and screening for carrier state, orthopedic care and physical therapy, screeing for antibodies and other adverse effects of therapy, and psychosocial support.