Radiation Oncology go to Radiation Oncology web site
The Department of Radiation Oncology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is one of the premiere academic radiation oncology departments in the country, known for high quality cutting-edge compassionate clinical care, excellent educational programs in clinical radiation oncology, physics, and biology, and comprehensive research programs spanning the clinic and laboratory. One of the Department’s differentiating nature is the diverse, subspecialized faculty who are recognized national and international experts in their areas of expertise. Multidisciplinary, team-focused care is offered to each patient, integrating the knowledge of surgeons, medical oncologists, diagnostic radiologists, and others to provide the best and latest treatments to patients, some of which are only available at the Medical Center through the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University. | 
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The Department’s 25 faculty, including 11 physicians, 10 physicists, and 4 radiation biologists, are all committed to the same vision, to reduce the burden of human cancer in our patients by providing the best treatment that optimizes quality of life, always striving to find the cure through research.
Radiation oncology is a very technology-based medical subspecialty. The Department is located in the new state-of-the-art Outpatient Comprehensive Cancer Center with all new equipment, including four Varian linear accelerators (dual energy with multileaf collimation), three simulators (one each radiofrequency, CT/PET, and MRI simulator) high- and low-dose brachytherapy equipment, a Leksell Gamma Knife, and 3-dimensional (3D) imaging based treatment planning and delivery, including capabilities for both 3D conformal and intensity modulated radiation therapy. The Medical Center has one of the few radiation oncology departments in the country with in-department CT/PET and MRI simulators, making it a world leader in “bioanatomic” radiation therapy treatment planning/delivery. This exciting area of investigation will become a standard of care in the future but is now available to patients of Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad, North Carolina, the southeast United States, and beyond.
The Department is strongly committed to conducting Clinical Trials as a means of improving local control, survival and quality of life. Areas of clinical research interest include radiation dose modifiers (sensitizers and protectors), gene therapy, combined modality chemo-radioation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, brachytherapy, dose escalation via 3D conformal and intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and altered fractionation.
The PET/CT simulator allows us to develop new applications of radiopharmaceuticals, develop new protocols for radiation oncology treatment planning, and train tomorrow’s researchers and physicians in these new applications.
We offer an array of specialized treatments, either as the sole radiation treatment modality or as part of an integrated course of therapy that also includes external beam radiation.
Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery
Since Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center opened North Carolina’s premiere Gamma Knife sterotactic 
radiosurgery center in 1999, patients have come from across the nation to benefit from this non-invasive, state-of-the-art treatment. Our Center boasts one of the most experienced radiosurgical treatment teams in the United States, and is one of the most active Gamma Knife Centers in the country.
The Gamma Knife is a method of delivering an ultra-precise dose of radiation to treat a variety of benign and malignant lesions and conditions in the brain, including brain metastases, trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuroma, vascular malformations, meningiomas, malignant gliomas, pituitary adenomas, and skull base lesions. All patients undergo multidisciplinary evaluation with neurosurgery, radiation oncology, and where appropriate medical oncology, pediatric oncology, neurology, otolaryngology, and interventional radiology. On a weekly basis, a Gamma Knife conference is held by the entire team at which our own cases as well as sent-in consultations are reviewed.
3D Conformal and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy
Among the newer treatment options for cancer of the prostate, brain, lung, and head and neck are two methods of focusing radiation on the tumor and surrounding at-risk tissues while optimally sparing nearby normal tissues, 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy, and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This approach uses anatomic computed tomogrphic and/or magnetic resonance images of the patient, computer-generated radiation dose calculations, and a computer-controlled linear accelerator to conform or “paint” the radiation dose very precisely to match the shape of the tumor to be treated, avoiding critical structures that may be only millimeters away.
When the linear accelerator radiation beam intensity is varied, or modulated, over space and time during the patient’s treatment, hence the term “Intensity Modulated” radiation therapy. In combination with advanced imaging techniques like magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography that image both tumor anatomy and biology, IMRT holds great promise for improving local tumor control and survival, even in the most resistant and aggressive human cancers.
Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy, which literally means “short therapy”, involves the implantation of radioactive sources in or near a tumor, a procedure which typically involves the collaboration of a surgical oncologist and radiation oncologist. A full range of brachytherapy treatment options are available for treating cancers of the prostate, breast cervix, uterus, vagina, head and neck, soft tissues, brain, and eye. In fact, with the availability of both high dose rate (HDR) and low dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy technology and expertise, virtually any area of the body can be implanted if appropriate. Brachytherapy is often used as a “boost” in conjunction with external beam radiation, particularly for locally advanced cancers.
Clinical Trials
The Department of Radiation Oncology places a significant emphasis on clinical trials, not only therapeutic studies aimed at improving local control and survival, but also quality-of-life research focused on reducing the symptoms of cancer and its treatments. Radiation oncology faculty (physicians, physicists, and radiobiologists) collaborate with surgical and medical oncologists on investigator-initiated Phase I, II, and III cancer treatment/control studies testing tomorrow’s treatments today. Virtually every patient who is seen in Radiation Oncology is screened for the opportunity to participate in one or more of our clinical trials.