We are one of the largest and best-equipped radiation oncology facilities in the United States, with a highly trained faculty and staff of more than 100. Our goal is to provide you, our patients, with the most advanced and effective radiation therapy available. The following information will give you a brief overview of the care and services you can expect.
Radiotherapy is one of the three major methods of managing cancer both for cure and palliation of symptoms. It is used alone or with surgery or chemotherapy in the curative treatment of cancers of almost all sites within the body and for the palliation of metastases.
Many techniques have evolved or are evolving in order to allow delivery of higher doses of ionizing radiation to the cancer cells and limited doses to normal tissues, thus yielding higher cure rates and lower side effects. General Hospital's Radiation Oncology is a major member of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and other national cooperative groups. In group studies we explore new schemes for delivering radiation, and we investigate combinations of radiation and cytotoxic chemotherapy. A wide range of protocols is available to patients receiving radiotherapy at General Hospital. Participation in national cooperative group studies assures the availability of the latest techniques and, in particular, the newest ideas in combined modality treatment. We also offer a wide spectrum of technology-based therapy including: Brachytherapy (Low Dose Rate, Post Dose Rate, High Dose Rate), Central Nervous System Implants, Conformal Dynamic Radiotherapy (3D CRT Fixed and Dynamic), CT Simulation, Gamma Knife, Gamma Knife, Hyperthermia, Intra-operative Radiotherapy (IORT), Ocular Radiotherapy (Plaque and Protons), Pediatric Brain Tumor Therapy, Total Body Electrons and Total Body Irradiation.
The Radiation Oncology department has offices and facilities at General Hospital and General Hospital AfterCare Center. At the AfterCare site patients are seen periodically after treatment. A low energy x-ray machine is located at General Hospital/General Hospital AfterCare Center for the treatment of skin cancers and for other cutaneous lesions such as Kaposi's sarcoma. A large variety of treatment machines for other tumors are at General Hospital. Radiation oncologists participate in the multidisciplinary clinics at the General Hospital Cancer Center, including breast, gynecology oncology, urologic oncology, head and neck tumors, melanoma and prostate cancer programs. A state of the art radiotherapy center is being planned for the new Clinical Cancer Center Building at the General Hospital Campus.