History of the department

The history of the department goes back to 1980, when the Division of Radiotherapy was developed within the Department of Radiology. A PICKER C 3000 Cobalt60 unit, and a THX 250 orthovoltage machine were the basis of the instrumental background. The Van de Geijn radiotherapy planning (RTP) program was accessed via cable connection, and a bow pencil device and some dosimetry instruments assisted at that time modern radiotherapy. Chemotherapy of those times was also applied.

The Department of Oncotherapy was founded in 1994 by the unification of the Divisions of Radiotherapy and the Division of Gynecooncology formerly belonging to the Department of Gynecology. The latter remained in the building of the Department of Gynecology.

By 1994, an important instrumental radiotherapy project had been completed: The 30 years old Cobalt60 unit was replaced by a linear accelerator (Mevatron KDS-2), and a simulator (Mevasim S), 3D RTP system and dosimetry instruments were invested. Also, a new bunker was developed for a new brachytherapy unit (HDR-afterloading Gammamed 12i). Since 2000, a Lantis dedicated record and verifying system supported the radiotherapy machines. In 1998, a new Cobalt60 unit was installed (Teragam K-01). In 2004-2005, within a new investment, one more bunker was built, and 2 new linear accelerators with multileaf collimator (Primus) were installed, and the first CT-simulator (Somatom Emotion 6) in the country had been started to be used. Also, 2 new 3D RTP systems were installed (XiO and Oncentra Masterplan) and the dosimetry devices were completed. Since 2005, only conformal radiotherapy is practised. In 2012, a new bunker was built, and a new linear accelerator (Varian ) was installed. In 2009, the Oncology Ward of the Municipal Hospital, in 2012, the Oncology Ward of the Hódmezővásárhely Hospital joined the Department of Oncotherapy.

At present, the Department of Oncotherapy is one of the 5 regional oncotherapy centers in Hungary, with full coverage of approved and reimbursed chemo- and radiotherapy protocols. It has 3 divisions with 73 beds and 30 ambulatory treatment chairs for chemotherapy, and covers approximately 1,350,000 people as patient population. 3000 new patients were treated in 2013, and the overall patient number for appointments or follow-up examinations was more than 13.000 in that year.

Radiation treatment is performed exclusively with individual personalized plans and patient positioning and fixation for each patient using 3 dimensional conformal techniques. Further technical developments in 2014 will provide the possibility to perform stereotactic and IGRT, as well as and further extend IMRT treatments.

The Department of Oncotherapy is also responsible for gradual and postgradual education, which are performed in both Hungarian and English languages. As a university clinic, we are deeply involved in research and active in scientific publication.

The staff at the Department of Oncotherapy performs both basic and clinical investigations. As basic research, radiobiological experiments are ran. Many of the patients of the department participate in clinical studies both in the fields of medical oncology and radiotherapy. Besides investigator-initiated clinical studies, multicenter international clinical studies are favored. Currently there are 32 phase II and III clinical studies in active and follow up phase in several indications.