Dr. Orsini Awarded Medal of Honor at International Conference

Reflecting On an Outstanding Career in Cancer Care

In looking back on his career, Dr. Orsini said, “I have been very fortunate to practice oncology and hematology during a period of rapid advances in our understanding of cancer and in our ability to provide patients with effective therapies that not only extend life but that also offer a good quality of life.”

Speaking during an afternoon phone interview, the medical oncologist added, “I’ve seen seven patients so far today. Every one of them is receiving some form of immunotherapy, a type of treatment that harnesses the immune system’s ability to detect and fight cancer. When I began treating people with cancer, I could not imagine that I would have this sort of resource available to me, nor could I have envisioned the outcomes we could obtain for our patients thanks to immunotherapy, targeted therapy, enhanced chemotherapy regimens, and other innovations. We still have a long way to go in the fight against cancer, but there is more cause for hope today than ever before.”

Dr. Orsini has helped drive many of those advances in cancer care. After obtaining his medical degree, he returned to his native New Jersey to complete his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He then advanced to oncology fellowships at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he was mentored by the late James F. Holland, MD, a legendary oncologist considered by many to be the “father of cancer chemotherapy.”

Recognizing Dr. Orsini’s promise as a researcher and clinician, Dr. Holland arranged for the young physician to continue his postgraduate training at the Milan Institute of Cancer, which was conducting groundbreaking investigations into oncology therapeutics. Dr. Orsini returned to Italy with a decided advantage over his initial stay there – fluency in the language. He explains that while his heritage is Italian, when his grandparents came to the United States, they insisted that the family speak only English at home. So, when he first traveled to Italy as one of thousands of future physicians who went abroad due to limited medical school spots domestically, he had to learn two languages – Italian and medical terminology.

Being conversant in both of those lexicons served Dr. Orsini well during his second stint in Italy. Research he conducted there led to publication of one of the first medical reports on the adjuvant use of systemic chemotherapy in the treatment of node-negative breast cancer. He also treated the father of world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli. The physician-patient relationship evolved into an enduring friendship with the Bocelli family, which the singer marked years later by dedicating a Camera di Benessere (Room of Healing) at the Clara Maass Medical Center and by dedicating a performance at the Meadowlands Arena to the Saint Barnabas Health Care System (now RWJ Barnabas Health), to which the medical center belongs.

While Dr. Orsini maintained his medical practice in Bologna for many years through regular trips to Italy, his focus soon shifted back to the United States, where he founded a practice then known as Essex Oncology. That practice has grown considerably over the years, with offices in Belleville, Montclair, and Roselle, NJ. Reflecting the broadened geographical area it serves, the practice’s name now is New Jersey Cancer Care. Seven other oncologists and hematologists and a team of advanced practice providers, nurses, medical assistants, laboratory technicians, other healthcare professionals, and administrative personnel now work alongside Dr. Orsini in the practice. The practice’s clinicians provide comprehensive services ranging from on-site chemotherapy and anticoagulation management to nutritional counseling, palliative care, and clinical trials. After expressing his appreciation for all his fellow physicians and other team members, Dr. Orsini could not help voicing his particular pride in one colleague – his son, Dr. James Orsini, Jr., who has become a leading expert on the management of prostate cancer and other genitourinary malignancies.

Dr. Orsini’s Relationship With RCCA

Beyond expanding their services in step with the latest advances in cancer care, Dr. Orsini and his colleagues have continually adapted to changes in the healthcare delivery environment. In July 2024, the practice joined Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA), one of the nation’s largest networks of oncology specialists. Dr. Orsini explained, “Regional Cancer Care Associates is a perfect fit for our practice because RCCA shares our commitment to ensuring that patients can receive the latest therapies and access to clinical trials in convenient, welcoming settings close to their homes. Further, like New Jersey Cancer Care, RCCA is dedicated to preserving physician autonomy and leadership, which is critical to ensuring that all decisions are made with the best interest of the patient in mind.”

Pioneering Oncology Care in New Jersey

In addition to his private practice, Dr. Orsini serves as Director of Medical Oncology at Clara Maass Medical Center, where he launched the institution’s outpatient cancer center in 1990. He said, “The movement to offer hospital-based outpatient cancer care began in California, and I visited one of the first outpatient centers to see the impact it had on patients’ lives. I thought that this represented a great step forward, so we secured space on the first floor of the hospital and got to work, becoming the first dedicated oncology unit in northern New Jersey. We developed a dedicated team of nurses and bought the safety hoods they needed to prepare chemotherapy doses for infusion. We established a tumor board conference for multi-disciplinary review of cases, so that the surgeon, the medical oncologist, the radiation oncologists, and others could collaborate in developing the treatment plan that would be most effective for each patient. And as new technologies or services demonstrated their value, we added them.”

Serving Beyond the Hospital

While the care he delivers to patients has earned him many accolades, including frequent inclusion on the publications’ and organizations’ lists of Top Doctors, Dr. Orsini also shares his time and expertise with several healthcare panels and organizations.

In 2013, he was appointed to the University Hospital Board of Directors and currently serves on the board’s Quality Care, Strategic Planning, Audit, and Governance and Ethics Committees. As noted earlier, he is the former President of the Oncology Society of New Jersey and the Essex County Chapter of the American Cancer Society. He also was Chairman of the Essex County Medical Society Committee on Cancer and served on the Physician’s Practice Review Panel of the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners.

Beyond his medical duties, Dr. Orsini and his wife, Marie, enjoy spending time with their four children and five grandchildren.

After half a century in practice, the physician shows no signs of slowing down. “I don’t tire,” he said. “The people we care for, the treatments and hope that we’re able to offer them, the advances that are transforming cancer care at an incredible pace, that keeps me going and keeps me excited about what the future holds.”

Find Outstanding Cancer Care at RCCA

Dr. Orsini is among 100+ medical oncologists and hematologists who practice with RCCA at 26 locations across New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and the Washington, D.C., area. RCCA’s cancer specialists see more than 30,000 new patients each year and provide care to more than 265,000 established patients, collaborating closely with those patients’ other physicians. RCCA physicians offer patients innovative therapies, including immunotherapies and targeted therapy, as well as access to approximately 300 clinical trials. In addition to serving patients who have solid tumors, blood-based cancers, and benign blood disorders, RCCA care centers also provide infusion services to people with a number of non-oncologic conditions—including multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, asthma, iron-deficiency anemia, and rheumatoid arthritis—who take intravenously-administered medications.

To learn more about RCCA, call 844-928-0089 or visit RCCA.com.