The GW Cancer Center’s Radiation Oncology Program is world-renowned for offering the highest level of radiation delivery and care to patients while advancing treatments for future patients. Using state-of-the-art technologies, GW radiation oncologists deliver powerful doses of radiation directly to the tumor with exquisite precision. Our approaches reduce the number of sessions required for radiation treatment compared with more conventional approaches while also limiting side effects.
Our radiation oncologists are not just practitioners, they are researchers committed to the practice of evidence-based medicine. Their continuous search for new and better treatment options is what sets us apart. This commitment to improving patient outcomes in the treatment of cancer is evident in every step of our treatment process, ensuring the highest level of safety. In our multidisciplinary approach, we collaborate closely with highly trained medical physicists in sub-specialized teams to create an individualized radiation treatment plan for every patient. Radiation therapists are present during each radiation procedure to ensure the correct dose of radiation is being delivered precisely where it's needed.
We provide patients with a wide range of radiation oncology services, including:
- Intensity-modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): IMRT is an advanced form of radiation therapy used primarily to treat cancer. It allows the radiation dose to conform more precisely to the three-dimensional (3D) shape of the tumor by modulating or controlling the intensity of the radiation beam in multiple small volumes.
- 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3DCRT): 3D-CRT is an advanced form of radiation therapy used to treat cancer. It leverages three-dimensional imaging techniques to accurately target tumors while minimizing exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS): Despite the name, SRS is not a form of surgery but rather a highly precise form of radiation therapy. It uses detailed imaging, such as MRI or CT scans, to precisely target the treatment area. This allows high doses of radiation to be delivered to very specific areas with minimal impact on surrounding healthy tissue.
- Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT): SBRT, also known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), is a highly precise form of radiation therapy used to treat cancerous tumors. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, which is delivered over several weeks, SBRT delivers very high doses of radiation to the tumor in 1 to 5 treatment sessions.
- Brachytherapy: Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy in which a radioactive source is placed directly inside or next to the area requiring treatment. This allows a high dose of radiation to target the tumor while minimizing exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
At the GW Cancer Center, we employ advanced radiation oncology treatments such as the TrueBeamTM STx, an advanced linear accelerator and radiosurgery treatment system that allows doctors to target hard-to-reach tumors. Our multidisciplinary teams combine radiation treatments with systematic therapies, including immunotherapy and targeted therapies (drugs that work at the molecular level to stop cancer) to achieve the best possible outcomes.
The Radiation Oncology team are leaders in clinical research, developing treatment protocols to continuously improve patient care, collaborating with researchers across GW to bring the latest cutting-edge therapies from bench to bedside.
Our goal is to deliver high-quality medical care and services to patients, to conduct clinical, translational, and basic scientific research, and to provide educational opportunities to patients, healthcare workers, and the community. At the GW Cancer Center, you’ll be seen by doctors and surgeons who rank among the top experts in the Washington, DC, region and whose mission is to create a cancer-free world.