Radiation Oncology

About the Department of Radiation Oncology

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Adam P. Dicker, MD, PhD

Academic Title: Professor

Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology

Board Certifications:
Radiation Oncology

Jefferson is home to the region's busiest radiation oncology center, which is visited by more than 2,000 cancer patients a year; our radiation oncologists perform more than 50,000 radiation treatments annually.

Specializing in specific types of tumors and therapies, our radiation oncologists are continually improving patient outcomes by providing carefully coordinated and sequenced therapies in concert with surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation biologists and medical physicists. Our Department is also recognized and respected around the country and around the world for innovation, precision and safety.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

Our integrated, multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment puts our patients' comfort first. Our radiation oncologists have developed several new cancer treatments and have helped pioneer the use of advanced radiation therapies that precisely target cancerous tumors while minimizing the effects on surrounding healthy tissue. Radiation therapies help a significant number of our patients realize cures, while they successfully slow the progress of cancers for many other patients.

Medical physicists at Jefferson are among the top professionals who write the guidelines used around the world. Though medical physicists work behind the scenes, their role is crucial in treatment planning. Our medical physicists are responsible for designing and planning radiation treatment for each patient – which includes planning the amount and frequency of dosage and working with a dosimetrist to create a simulation of the treatment – and managing the radiation equipment to ensure it meets and exceeds specifications.

Our Facilities

The facilities of the Department of Radiation Oncology, known as the Bodine Center for Radiation Therapy/Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, occupy three contiguous levels of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, totaling 57,000 square feet. The Center incorporates facilities for patient reception, examination, care, follow-up and other services. It also includes an IV Infusion Center, administrators' and physicians' offices, a computer center, a physics laboratory and several research laboratories.

Located on the Center's patient-care level are four double-energy linear accelerators, with two of them equipped with cone-beam CT capabilities for image-guided adaptive radiation therapy. In addition, there are two simulators (one CT simulator), an intraoperative suite and a computerized treatment-planning center.

Research and Education

Visit the Department of Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University for more on research and education.