Department of Radiation Oncology

The radiation therapy work at Peking Union Medical College Hospital began in the 1920s, making it one of the earliest hospitals in the country to apply radiation therapy for tumors. In the 1950s, the radiology department established a dedicated radiation therapy group, forming a strong radiation oncology specialty in the country. In 1958, the main equipment and personnel for radiation therapy participated in the establishment of the Cancer Hospital of the Academy of Medical Sciences. The remaining staff continued their work. In 1985, an independent Department of Radiation Oncology was established, with Professor Zhou Juechu as the first director; under the leadership of renowned experts such as Professors Zhang Fuquan, Qiu Jie, and Hu Ke, the department has continuously introduced and updated advanced radiotherapy equipment, maintaining international first-class standards in precision radiotherapy and clinical physics technology.

Currently, the hospital has five linear accelerators (Elekta Versa HD, Varian Trilogy, TomoTherapy, Siemens ART, Siemens Primus), as well as one intraoperative radiotherapy device (Mobetron). The positioning equipment includes: MRI simulation machines, conventional simulation machines, and large aperture CT simulation machines; there are two brachytherapy devices, stereotactic treatment devices (CyberKnife), and radiofrequency hyperthermia equipment, along with a comprehensive quality control system. The department conducts nearly all new radiotherapy technologies, including dose-guided adaptive radiotherapy (ART), helical tomotherapy (TOMO), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), multi-fraction total body irradiation, CyberKnife treatment technology, field imaging verification technology, three-dimensional brachytherapy, and deep hyperthermia technology. The department has three full professors, four associate professors, 15 mid-level professionals, and 25 junior staff. There are 16 physicians, 10 physicists, 2 nurses, and 18 technicians and engineers on staff. Each year, approximately 4,000 cases of tumors and benign diseases are treated. The department's main radiotherapy specialties include gynecological tumor radiotherapy, prostate cancer radiotherapy, lung cancer radiotherapy, breast cancer radiotherapy, and intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It was one of the first in the country to conduct intensity-modulated radiotherapy for cervical cancer and other gynecological tumors, as well as research on three-dimensional brachytherapy and adaptive radiotherapy. The department has received multiple hospital medical achievement awards, including a first prize for research on intensity-modulated radiotherapy for cervical cancer. It undertakes national natural science and 13th Five-Year Plan research projects; it is a granting institution for doctoral degrees in oncology and master's degrees in radiation physics at Peking Union Medical College, having trained over 30 doctoral and master's students; it also carries out clinical teaching for technicians and physicists, training over 100 technicians and physicists.

Providing timely and high-quality treatment services to patients is the mission of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, with quality assurance being the lifeline of the department. Over the years, the department has prioritized strict quality assurance and quality management, establishing a rigorous and systematic quality assurance system, with detailed and strict procedures for patient treatment planning, treatment dose verification, positioning verification, and treatment validation. In particular, daily, weekly, monthly, and annual inspections of radiotherapy and positioning equipment are conducted, ensuring that equipment safety, dose, and mechanical precision meet international advanced levels, making it one of the few hospitals in the country that conducts daily dose verification, ensuring the safety and accuracy of treatments.