UZ Gent is one of the largest and most specialized hospitals in Flanders, delivering a full range of highly specialized, high-quality care. As a university center UZ Gent is also investing in scientific research and education, for which it operates in close collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the Ghent University. Set in this environment, the Radiation Oncology Department of the University Hospital in Ghent is an academic radiotherapy department with a focus on radiation technology development. It pioneered the introduction of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in Belgium and beyond. Its research focus now has shifted towards other novel radiotherapy technologies such as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), adaptive radiotherapy (ART) and dose-painting. Through collaboration with the Lab for Experimental Cancer Research, a specific interest exists for the mechanisms of metastatic tumour development and progression, hence the emphasis on developing new treatment modalities for oligometastatic disease. Operating on 4 linear accelerators and with a staff of 11 radiation oncologists and 10 physicists (part of which have a major research activity), it delivers about 1800 new radiation treatments a year. Of these, about one out of four are enrolled in clinical trials.    The Radiation Oncology’s expertise in new radiotherapy technology can only foster by close collaboration with other groups. For lung cancer, the close collaboration with the Thoracic Oncologists is embedded in the LONG (Long Oncologisch Netwerk Gent) tumor working group. The Thoracic Oncology team of the Dept. Pulmonary Medicine strives to provide the highest quality in diagnostics, functional evaluation, systemic treatment and best supportive care for thoracic malignancies. The department can rely on a well-staffed trial management bureau comprising data managers with extensive experience in academic and industry-sponsored clinical trials in thoracic oncology, from phase 1 to phase 3. The team is also expanding its fundamental and research activities in immuno-oncology through the recently established Tumor Immunology Laboratory, and the initiation and promotion of the Immuno-Oncological Network Ghent.

 

https://www.ugent.be/ge/oncol/en