Department Of Radiation Oncology

The primary goal of NCI is to deliver treatment safely and effectively in ways that benefit our patients. Hence, NCI has the most up-to-date technology, equipment, systems in order to bring world class cancer treatment in the reach of common man.

Radiation is a form of energy in the form of X-rays & electrons (Modern Linear Accelerators) or Y- rays (e.g. Cobalt unit, Gamma Knife). Radiation Therapy kills cancer cells by depositing high doses of energy and damaging the DNA. In this process DNA of healthy tissues can also get damaged and cause side effects. Therefore the aim of modern day radiotherapy is to deliver radiation in a manner that is affects mainly the tumor tissue but at the same time spare the normal tissues.

The department of Radiation Oncology at NCI is spread over an area of Aprox. 36,000 square feet It is equipped with two latest state-of-the-art linear accelerators and GammaMedPlus iX 24 channel HDR brachytherapy unit. The radiation department has a dedicated Wide Bore CT Scanner for simulation apart from a 1.5 Tesla MRI.

The wide bore is very convenient for patients during radiotherapy planning procedures and interventional procedure, it has a state of art table design for large patients. It provides precise imaging and planning that is required for routine and advanced radiation therapy treatments

The flagship linac i.e., TrueBEAM is loaded with triple photon energies, six electron energies and two FFF energies to deliver very high ablative doses of radiation as is done in Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT), Stereotactic Radio Surgery (SRS). 6D Robotic Couch which is a unique feature with our linac makes it possible to tackle positional uncertainties in six possible dimensions which in turn entail confidence in SRS and SBRT treatment with sub-millimetre precision. On Board Imager(OBI) helps in stringent verification and quality control of treatment delivery.

A very high volume of 3D conformal treatments like IMRT, IGRT, and DIBH along with SRS and SBRT are being regularly delivered at the National Cancer Institute, Nagpur.

In near future it is planned to add TBI and TSET to the repertoire of the Department of Radiation Oncology.