The Upright Photon Alliance: Meet the Member: Cone Health Edition

An interview featuring BJ Sintay, Executive Director of Radiation Oncology, Chief Physicist at Cone Health and a founding member of the Upright Photon Alliance.

In October 2024, we launched the Upright Photon Alliance, a global research group bringing together leading healthcare institutions, including Centre Léon Bérard, Cone Health, IHH Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, and OncoRay. This initiative focuses on implementing our latest photon therapy technology in the clinical setting by conducting early research into a number of key areas. 

In this interview, we speak with BJ Sintay from Cone Health, a founding member of the Upright Photon Alliance, to discuss his reasons for joining the alliance and what he is most excited to uncover when they install later in 2025 one of our first-ever photon solutions at their facility this year. 

What is your background in Radiation Therapy and why do you do what you do?

Radiation therapy runs in my family as my father was a radiation therapist, dosimetrist, and department leader. This gave me a good awareness of the field, but I chose to become an engineer instead. When completing my graduate studies in biomedical engineering I was involved in radiation oncology through my advisor Dr. Dan Bourland. After spending a short time in the department, I found that I really enjoyed participating in what medical physicists were doing for patient care. My current leader, Skip Hislop, says “you don’t choose oncology, oncology chooses you,” and it quickly felt like the thing I was meant to do. The pace and operation of the clinic is exciting and something that I absolutely love.  

What were your first thoughts when you heard about Upright Radiotherapy?

Upright therapy made sense to me immediately. Niek Schreuder told me that he was working with Leo and that a future goal was to produce an upright therapy system for photons. I thought this was a fantastic goal. I could see the potential to improve patient comfort and clinical outcomes. When I began to research the use of the upright position in other medical specialties and diagnostic imaging, the possibilities became inspiring. 

Where do you think Upright radiotherapy will make the most impact? 

 We get consistent feedback from patients about having to lie on a hard table. For some patients this is the worst part of their therapy experience. Upright presents an opportunity to provide these patients with a more comfortable and empowering position for therapy. Additionally, there are many possible clinical benefits. For example, in prostate cancer the abdominal cavity pushes down on the prostate in a potentially consistent way from day to day which could help us better target the prostate while avoiding health tissues. In lung cancer, there are interesting possibilities to reduce tumor motion while increasing visibility of anatomical structures. 

What was the main driver for Cone Health to become a member of the Upright Photon Alliance?      

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they want to know that they have the best care options available to them. The radiation oncology team at Cone Health has been evaluating various technologies and advancements in the field of radiation oncology that have emerged over the last decade. Among these, upright therapy stood out as one of the most innovative and potentially beneficial therapies that have been developed in recent times. This made Cone Health excited to explore the possibilities through a research partnership with Leo Cancer Care. 

What qualities and values does Cone Health as an institution have that will support its work within the Alliance? 

Cone Health is committed to delivering exceptional health outcomes for our community while providing a superior health care experience. As evident from us recently becoming part of Risant Health, our organization seeks to be a national leader in value-based care, which is a model of care that rewards health organizations for delivering the best health outcomes. The Alliance offers an exciting opportunity to advance radiation treatment outcomes with a high-quality group of leaders from around the world. The benefits of upright may outweigh much costlier options in our field, and Cone Health is an ideal partner to explore this opportunity. 

Is there an area of research that Cone Health is really excited to explore?

The physicist in me is excited to learn about the unique physical qualities of the photon beam, imager, and positioning system that could produce better treatment options for patients. All three have unique components that have never been studied in our field. An area that I find particularly promising is lung cancer. With lung cancer we want to be able to see tumors with exceptional accuracy while also reducing or eliminating their motion. Preliminary research suggests that the upright position may be superior for doing this type of treatment. 

We’ll be introducing each of our alliance members in this series, so stay tuned for the next edition of “Meet the Alliance Member.” 

Please note: The Leo Cancer Care Upright Photon Solutions are not commercially available and for research purposes only.