Fred Hutch’s new Radiation Oncology Division takes shape

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center launched a new Division of Radiation Oncology in July 2023 led by Ramesh Rengan, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President and Professor in the Clinical Research Division.

The establishment of the new division is part of an overall strategy to synchronize Fred Hutch’s structure with those of other leading cancer centers. The Division of Radiation Oncology will collaborate closely with UW Medicine and the UW School of Medicine, but it will recruit its own faculty members. Eligible UW faculty will be given the option to receive appointments to the division.

Rengan will continue in his current role as department chair of Radiation Oncology at UW as he oversees the new division and its mission to elevate and incorporate radiation oncology research into Fred Hutch’s basic and translational science.

We recently asked Rengan to discuss what the future holds for the new division.

Can you talk about the impetus behind formalizing a Division of Radiation Oncology at Fred Hutch?

There are three so-called pillars of cancer care: surgical oncology (removing the tumor), medical oncology (using a drug such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy to attack the cancer) and radiation oncology (using precisely targeted radiation to destroy the tumor). One of the earliest uses of radiation after its discovery in 1896 was to treat cancer. It was immediately recognized as a remarkably effective and curative treatment for cancer when used by experienced physicians.  

We are firmly in the era of precision oncology where we tailor therapies to the biology of the patient and tumor in front of us. We are moving beyond classifying a patient as stage one, two, three or four. We now have sophisticated tools to say here are the genetics of your tumor and your biology, and here is a set of tools to treat your disease. Achieving the promise of precision oncology requires seamless integration of that information from the bench to bedside.  

In launching this new Division, we are hoping to create a first-in-class precision Radiation Oncology program that will harness the discoveries our newly recruited radiation oncology scientists make at the bench and translate them to the well-established, world-class clinical care our clinical radiation oncologists deliver at the bedside.

You mention the importance of integrating information from bench to bedside, from research to clinical care. How?

From the outset, there will be meaningful opportunities to recruit world-class radiation researchers under the Fred Hutch umbrella to join our division so that is an immediate benefit. Longer-term benefits will be left to the imagination of our talented faculty. This provides them with a runway and no organizational constraints because we now have a single umbrella under Fred Hutch for radiation oncology. There’s nothing to prevent people at different organizations from working together, but it’s easier to collaborate when there is one division. It creates a shared journey.

What are the goals of this new division?

We have three goals. 

1. Build a basic radiation research program so our researchers can work synergistically and collaborate with one another.  

2. Build a radiation clinical trial program that allows us to roll out leading-edge clinical trials. Patients come to Fred Hutch to get tomorrow's cancer treatment today. This new division will help us launch the next generation of clinical trials informed by discoveries our investigators make at the bench.  

3. Foster collaborative research. Cancer care is a team sport. World-class radiation research and care is part of a world-class multidisciplinary cancer center.