The BMC Cancer Center in the Moakley Building

Our New Department of Radiation Oncology opened in October of 2006 in the new Moakley Building.

Most cancer-related treatments, including ambulatory surgery, PET-CT scan, women’s imaging, medical oncology, and radiation oncology, will be consolidated in this building. A new multidisciplinary clinic will provide comprehensive patient consults with radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, and surgeons on site. In addition, the building will be connected to the Harrison Inpatient Pavilion for convenient access to inpatient cancer care, the main OR, and Radiology.

Our new department has two brand new state of the art Varian linear accelerators. We have our own CT-simulator, which facilitates accurate, individualized planning for patient treatments. In addition, we utilize PET-CT and MRI images for certain types of cancers where this is needed. The latest technology includes respiratory gating and on-board imaging, which allows even more precise targeting of tumors.

High dose brachytherapy is another state-of-the-art treatment that is offered. This  allows patients with gynecological cancers to receive high dose radiation implants on an outpatient basis (this was previously done in collaboration with MGH). In the past, such treatments would have required a three day stay in the hospital.