Radiotherapy

The Department of Radiation Oncology is a key clinical specialty of Liaoning Province, a national standardized training base for resident physicians specializing in oncology radiotherapy, and Dalian’s oncology diagnosis and treatment base.

The Department of Radiation Oncology is a specialized oncology diagnosis and treatment department integrating modern medical equipment, high technology, advanced concepts, and high-quality services. In 2004, it was the first department in Dalian to introduce the internationally most advanced intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy technology, filling a gap in the field of precision radiotherapy in Dalian. To date, intensity-modulated radiotherapy has been performed in more than 10,000 cases, and extensive experience has been accumulated. The department’s overall strength in comprehensive tumor treatment is currently at an advanced national level and plays an important role in cancer prevention and treatment in Dalian.

Advanced equipment: The department is equipped with the world’s most advanced American VARIAN medical linear accelerator, a 120-leaf multileaf collimator system, the most advanced Eclipse11 intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatment planning system, the ARIA radiotherapy information network management system, the German STRYKE stereotactic radiotherapy treatment planning system, the American VARIAN fifth-generation GammaMedplusiX HDR afterloading unit, the German Siemens PET/CT radiotherapy positioning system, the American GE spectral CT positioning system, the GE 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging system, and other internationally state-of-the-art radiotherapy positioning and treatment equipment. In accordance with the principles of individualized tumor treatment, the department can provide advanced treatment techniques for tumors in all parts of the body, including image-guided radiotherapy, intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, and afterloading brachytherapy.

A high-level medical, teaching, and research team: The department has 13 physicians, 3 supervisors of master’s students, 10 staff members with doctoral or master’s degrees, 3 professors (chief physicians), 4 associate chief physicians, 3 attending physicians, 2 radiotherapy medical physicists, and 7 technicians. Seven members have studied at internationally leading radiation oncology centers, and 10 have completed advanced training at renowned domestic oncology specialty hospitals, including the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, with which the department has established good collaborative relationships. Every physician has an individual professional development focus. Each year, renowned experts from China and abroad are invited to give lectures at the hospital. Four major subspecialty development directions have now been established, focusing primarily on head and neck, thoracic, abdominal, gynecologic, and urologic tumors, and a number of distinctive medical technologies have emerged.

Professional techniques:

1. Head and neck group: Precision chemoradiotherapy guided by gene typing of brain gliomas; molecular-targeted concurrent intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; standardized concurrent chemoradiotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, including oral, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers; treatment combining the P53 gene with intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy for advanced and recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma; comprehensive function-preserving treatment for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers, among others; and stereotactic radiotherapy for brain metastases.

2. Thoracic group: Intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy combined with concurrent and sequential chemotherapy for lung cancer; intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy combined with molecular-targeted therapy and chemotherapy for esophageal cancer; and, in particular, individualized and comprehensive treatment of small-cell lung cancer, which has significantly improved survival.

3. Abdominal group: Intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy for breast cancer after breast-conserving surgery and comprehensive treatment after radical surgery for breast cancer; preoperative neoadjuvant therapy and postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer; anus-preserving radical radiotherapy for rectal cancer; concurrent chemoradiotherapy for gastric cancer; and molecular-targeted and comprehensive treatment for other abdominal tumors.

4. Gynecologic and urologic group: Adjuvant intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy after surgery and radical radiotherapy for common gynecologic tumors such as endometrial cancer and cervical cancer; image-guided three-dimensional conformal precision radiotherapy using intracavitary and interstitial implant brachytherapy; standardized adjuvant radiotherapy for ovarian cancer; intensity-modulated conformal radiotherapy combined with comprehensive endocrine treatment for prostate cancer; and function-preserving comprehensive treatment for advanced bladder cancer.

In particular, the introduction of the new technology of PET/CT-guided radiotherapy positioning has taken precision radiotherapy to a higher level. Our hospital was also the first hospital in Dalian to introduce this technology. At present, all of these new technologies have been widely applied clinically and have achieved very good therapeutic results.

The department currently leads or participates in four projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, undertakes more than 20 youth scientific research fund projects supported by the Ministry of Health and by provincial, municipal, and hospital funding programs, and has published nearly 200 papers in domestic and international academic journals. Dozens of graduate students and standardized residency trainees are trained each year. For nine consecutive years, the department has been recognized as an advanced management department and has received the hospital’s Silver Award for Departmental Management.

All members of the Department of Radiation Oncology uphold the rigorous scientific approach and superb medical skills of the First Hospital of Dalian Medical University. They will serve patients with warm and attentive care, excellent technical expertise, and a philosophy of striving for excellence and providing services with integrity.