Why St. Jude for Radiation Therapy?

St. Jude uses radiation therapy to treat more children than all other cancer centers and hospitals in the country.

The most effective, least-damaging radiation therapy is aimed precisely at cancer cells, sparing healthy nearby tissue. To achieve the best results for your child, you need the most experienced doctors and the most up-to-date technology. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has both.

The team in Memphis is the largest group of experts devoted to pediatric radiation oncology. The Radiation Oncology Department at St. Jude treats more children than any other cancer center or hospital in the country.

What’s more, St. Jude leads the world in pediatric neuroradiotherapy, radiation used to treat brain tumors.

Radiation therapy researchers at St. Jude set worldwide practices.

St. Jude has a reputation as the children’s hospital that has the most cancer clinical trials. Radiation studies have had especially strong results. In fact, research methods at St. Jude have become the model for national and international clinical trials.

For example, doctors and researchers at St. Jude helped set the guidelines used in the national cooperative group brain tumor trials using conformal radiation therapy (CRT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). CRT and IMRT are types of radiation shapes the radiation beam to the outline of the tumor. This means the cancer gets maximum radiation and healthy cells don’t. CRT and IMRT work by using CT and MRI scans to make 3-D maps of the tumor. Trials of CRT and IMRT helped increase cure rates and reduce side effects for children with types of brain tumors. 

St. Jude is now investigating the ability of proton therapy to further improve cure rates and minimize side effects. Current clinical trials for proton therapy include:

Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials

State-of-the-art radiation therapy at the St. Jude Proton Therapy Center is first of its kind for children.

The St. Jude Proton Therapy Center is the world’s first proton center dedicated solely to children. It is used to treat several types of cancer for children.

Proton therapy lets doctors aim high-dose radiation at cancer cells and spare healthy cells. It is one of the most advanced and precise forms of radiation treatment today. The center includes dedicated, state-of-the-art technology by using PET/CT and MRI scans to help guide the radiation beam.

Proton Beam Therapy at St. Jude

There are many different types of radiation therapy.

The radiation oncology team at St. Jude will develop the best plan of treatment for your child, including the type of radiation that is the most effective in treating the cancer and the least harmful to your child’s growing body. 

Glossary of Types of Radiation Therapy