Radiation Oncology Division

Introduction

Radiation therapy (RT) plays an essential role in the management of cancer patients. More specifically, RT is used (1) as a curative treatment for many patients with malignant disease, (2) as an integrated therapy together with chemotherapy and surgery, and (3) as palliative treatment for patients in whom curative treatment is not an option. In RT, the radiation dose delivered to a tumor must be as high as possible, while that delivered to the surrounding normal tissues should be as low as possible. The primary focus of the Radiation Oncology Division is to develop, evaluate, and expand the role of RT in cancer treatment. The establishment of optimal irradiation techniques, including proton treatment, is also an important goal of the Division.

Routine Activities

The Division is composed of 6 consultant physicians, 11 radiation technologists, 4 medical physicists, 1 nurse, and 1 clerk. Physicians and medical physicists perform together conventional radiotherapy and proton beam therapy. A conference on treatment planning and verification is conducted once every week in the evening in addition to a weekly journal club meeting and a monthly work conference.
Treatment is generally based on the achievement of isodose distributions by three-dimensional planning performed by RT-dedicated multidetector-row helical CT scanning in order to confirm the radiation dose to a tumor. More than 1,100 new patients are treated annually, and more than 30 clinical trials involving RT as the sole treatment or a combined treatment modality for various cancers are in progress.
The section dealing with conventional (photon-electron) treatment is equipped with 4 treatment machines (3 linear accelerators and a high dose rate brachytherapy unit), a CT simulator, 4 treatment planning computer workstations, and many other devices. In April 2008, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has been included in social insurance medicine.
The section dealing with proton therapy comprises 5 operating staff members and 1 technician for fabricating the compensator and aperture; they are sent from the manufacturing companies and work in collaboration with the other staff members of the Division. One room is routinely used for rotational gantry treatment. Quality assurance and regular maintenance of the machines are also important for precise treatment delivery.

● T. Ogino ●

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