Dr. Karen P. Seiter leads our Leukemia Service, which offers evaluation and treatment of malignant blood disorders including acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative syndromes, myelomas, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. Our leukemia specialists work with primary care physicians, hematopathologists, infectious disease specialists and others – first, to determine the specific blood disorder and its molecular characteristics and then to plan the most suitable treatment for the individual patient. Treatment recommendations are based on the most current and best scientific evidence from clinical studies. Your treatment is tailored to meet your specific needs and circumstances. In addition, you may be eligible to participate in national clinical trials testing exciting new treatment approaches and will be offered that opportunity.

Treatment is delivered in our infusion suite or, when necessary, in the hospital setting. During and after treatment, patients are carefully monitored with laboratory testing and medical evaluations. Our nursing staff guides you through the process and help to you manage any problems that arise. Patients see and talk with their own doctor throughout their treatment and during follow up periods.

The Solid Tumor Service offers evaluation and treatment of many cancers that arise in various parts of the body such as:

• Breast
• Gastrointestinal (colon and rectal, small intestine, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder) ,
• Genitourinary (prostate, bladder, testicular),
• Gynecologic (uterus, ovary, vagina, cervix),
• Pulmonary (lungs),
• Dermatologic (skin),
• Neurologic (brain, central and peripheral nervous systems),
• Renal (kidney)

WOHG doctors work as a team with your primary care doctor, surgeon, pathologist, radiologist, and radiation oncologist - first to define the specific type and location of cancer - then to determine and deliver the best treatment. Treatment recommendations are based on the most current and best scientific evidence from clinical studies. Your treatment is tailored to meet your specific needs and circumstances. You might even receive “multimodality therapy” (different therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation combined as one treatment plan) if this offers you the best chance for response. In addition, you may be eligible to participate in national clinical trials testing exciting new treatment approaches and will be offered that opportunity.

Treatments are given in our infusion suite or, when necessary, in the hospital. Patients are closely monitored with laboratory testing and medical evaluation during and after treatment. Our nursing staff guides you through the process and help to you manage any problems that arise along the way. Patients see and talk with their own doctor throughout their treatment and during follow up periods.

We are an experienced team of professionals who can successfully care for you before and during stem cell harvest, transplant and throughout long term recovery. The Stem Cell Transplant Service was established at the Westchester Medical Center by Dr. Tauseef Ahmed and his team in 1983. This small program has grown into a comprehensive Transplant and Collection service that provides a full range of transplant options including matched related transplants, unrelated allogeneic transplants, and autologous transplants. Our program is also a chosen provider of stem cell collection services for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). Our Transplant Service is licensed and accredited by the New York State Department of Health and the NMDP. It has the distinction of being the only program in the New York Metropolitan region (and one of only a handful in New York State) that has FACT (Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy) accreditation.

Our highly experienced Transplant Team has done more than 2000 transplants for patients with blood-related cancers, lymphomas, myeloma, and for patients who have certain solid tumors like breast, renal cell, testicular, ovarian, and some other cancers. Our transplant doctors are also clinical scientists who coordinate many clinical studies to test the benefits new treatments used in conditioning regimens, stem cell transplants, and to manage the side effects of treatment (supportive care regimens). Such studies open doors to many treatment options before they are available to the general public.

People receiving a stem cell transplant may get a myeloablative or sub-myeloablative (“mini transplant”) conditioning regimen before transplant (infusion of stem cells). Our transplant doctors work together with many medical specialists and renowned specialty laboratories (Histogenetics, Progenitor Cell Therapeutics, Inc.). We do this to plan and deliver the most suitable conditioning chemotherapy (± radiation therapy), harvest (collect) or obtain and infuse the best matched stem cells, and give you post-transplant care that speeds your recovery and restores your health. Pre-transplant evaluation and preparation of donors and recipients is completed by our Stem Cell Transplant Coordinators under the supervision of our Transplant Medicine physicians – Drs. Tauseef Ahmed, Karen Seiter and Delong Liu. Conditioning, stem cell infusions and the immediate post transplant period (about two to four weeks) take place in the hospital. Our doctors and specially trained nursing staff monitors your care continuously throughout the process. Post transplant recovery happens in your own home under the supervision and watchful eye of our team.

WOHG is the exclusive provider of Transfusion and Apheresis Services for Westchester Medical Center (WMC). Our program, started in 2000 to improve hematotherapy services in the region, is led by Dr. John Nelson. Each year our team performs close to 5000 transfusions and special hematotherapy procedures to adults and children including:

• Blood transfusions for patients who have acute and chronic transfusion requirements for bleeding disorders and other conditions.
• Therapeutic apheresis for patients with blood disorders such as hematologic diseases, neurological disorders, autoimmune and rheumatic diseases, renal and metabolic diseases as well as burn patients; apheresis procedures include:
  • plasmapheresis
  • leukapheresis
  • plateletpheresis
  • red cell exchanges
  • immunoadsorption

As the Collection Center for the WMC Transplant Program, we also carry out stem cell harvesting and infusion services and coordinate with a state-of-the-art laboratory - Progenitor Cell Therapeutics, Inc. - for stem cell manipulation and cryopreservation services.

We deliver outpatient and inpatient care. Outpatient transfusion services are provided Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Rapid turnaround laboratory testing and efficient systems for obtaining and safely administering needed blood products are hallmarks of our high quality service. Specially manipulated blood products including irradiated, CMV negative, leukodepleted and type-specific blood for patients with complex transfusion needs as well as random and single donor platelets are provided in collaboration with the Blood Bank at WMC. Our Hematotherapy Team of nurses and physicians is available on-demand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to perform emergency procedures for hospitalized patients in crisis.

Our services are licensed by the State of New York Department of Health and consistently meet patient care standards established by national regulatory agencies such as the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) and Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). Standardized procedures guide our practice; our active Quality Assurance program ensures patient safety through regular and rigorous evaluation of our performance and equipment. We strive continuously to apply processes that offer precise fluid balance, shortened procedure times and the lowest possible fluid volumes possible, all strategies designed to minimize complication risks.

Chemotherapy is a mainstay of cancer treatment. Often it is given alone, but sometimes in combination with other cancer treatments such as radiation and surgery. It is a highly technical service focused on administering anti-cancer drugs along with supportive medications to reduce side effects and coordinating with other treatments. Our staff are knowledgeable about and have access to hundreds of medications used in cancer care including newer agents being studied in clinical trials.

Our infusion suite was specifically designed to provide a comfortable, relaxed and safe environment in which our nurses work directly with your doctor and a pharmacist to prepare you for and administer your treatment. The particular regimen prescribed for you in writing is carefully reviewed by the team. All chemotherapy and supportive medications are coordinated and doubly checked to ensure your safety. We have great success in minimizing uncomfortable side effects with specifically designed medications and regimens administered prior to, during and after chemotherapy. In fact, many patients continue to work and run their households during treatment, dropping in for treatment at conveniently arranged times. Our nursing staff gives you the information you need and want to determine what you can manage on your own and when it is important to contact the team. No question is too trivial. Our nurses are available to talk with you by phone in between office visits and encourage you to report symptoms you are experiencing that you feel cannot be effectively self-managed.