Sarcoma

Radiation therapy is used in conjunction with surgery to deliver treatment before or after surgery to reduce the risk of cancer returning. Radiation therapy may also be used along with chemotherapy as a noninvasive way to treat certain types of cancer that have spread beyond the initial tumor site. Radiation oncologists at Johns Hopkins use multidisciplinary expertise, advanced radiation techniques, skin-sparing approaches and advanced research to help treat sarcoma safely and effectively.

Our Team of Sarcoma Specialists

  • Curtiland Deville, MD

    • Medical Director, Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center
    • Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences
  • Amol K. Narang, MD

    • Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences

Our Sarcoma Treatments

At Johns Hopkins, our radiation oncologists use the following types of radiation therapy to treat sarcoma:

  • Image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) – This delivers targeted doses of radiation in a pattern to match the shape of the tumor.
  • Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) – Single or multiple radiation beams sweep around the patient, greatly reducing treatment time. Three-dimensional imaging technology aids in the precision of radiation delivery, giving doctors the ability to visualize the tumor at the time of treatment. 
  • TomoTherapy – Detailed, three-dimensional maps of a tumor’s size and location are created, then the machine delivers small beamlets of radiation from various angles, providing exceptional accuracy when targeting tumors.
  • Brachytherapy  – Radioactive implants are placed as close to the cancer as possible.
  • Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) – This delivers radiation directly to the tumor site during surgery, after the tumor has been removed.
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery – A nonsurgical radiation therapy that can be used as an alternative to invasive surgery. The technology delivers multiple radiation beams from different angles and planes. Three-dimensional  images are used to determine the exact location of the tumors.
  • Proton Therapy – Proton therapy is a form of targeted radiation treatment that uses energy from positively charged particles called protons. Protons very precisely zero in on tumors, delivering most of their cancer-fighting energy directly to cancer cells while minimizing radiation exposure and damage to neighboring healthy tissue and organs. The therapy reduces the risk of late effects after treatment.

Learn more about The Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.