Image of a patient inside of a scanner.

Department of Radiation Oncology

Chairman's Welcome

Dr. David T. Marshall, Chairman of Radiation Oncology

Welcome to the MUSC Department of Radiation Oncology.

Picture of Dr. David Marshall, Chairman 

As the newly appointed Chairman, I am pleased to welcome you to the Department of Radiation Oncology and introduce you to our wonderful team. Our department has a three-fold mission: 1. To provide the best possible care to our patients, 2. To train and educate medical students, future radiation oncologists, and people training to be radiation therapists, and 3. To perform ground-breaking research in order to transform the standard of care for future patients. Our team is highly successful in all three of these endeavors.

First, our department is dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art radiotherapy to the people of South Carolina and the surrounding areas. Every member of our team is devoted to providing the best possible service and highest quality care. We work hard to make sure we take very good care of you and your family.

We are part of a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care. Our partnership with MUSC Health and our NCI-designated Hollings Cancer Center allows us to provide the best treatment recommendations to most effectively manage your or your family member’s health care. We have 11 different tumor/site-specific Tumor Boards, where team members from all medical specialties that diagnose and treat cancer meet to discuss your case. Our large number of site-specific Tumor Boards means that every member of each of these groups is a specialist in the particular type of cancer you are dealing with. This group reviews your case collaboratively and provides recommendations for the best way to manage your care.

The Department of Radiation Oncology is made up of many wonderful people. We have six Attending doctors that head up our teams fighting specific types of cancer. Each of our Attending doctors have a few types of cancers they focus on, so that they can provide the highest level of service and specialized knowledge of those types of cancers.

Our Radiation Oncology clinics are located in the Hollings Cancer Center, and the adjacent MUSC Main Hospital building in downtown Charleston, on the peninsula, as well as in Mount Pleasant - which is convenient to our population north of the Cooper River. All of our facilities boast state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained and qualified physicians and staff.

Our educational programs include formal training for Radiation Oncology Residents. These doctors are undergoing a 5-year long journey after medical school to learn how to become independent Radiation Oncologists. They are the brightest of the bright and best of the best, and we are thrilled to have our Residents in our department fueling the intellectual curiosity of our team and keeping our Attending physicians at the top of their game. We also help with the education of medical students at MUSC College of Medicine about cancer and the role of radiotherapy in its management. In addition, with our affiliation with Armstrong Atlantic State University, we also train future radiation therapists – the people that have the high level of skill and training in order to operate our high-tech radiotherapy machines here at MUSC and across the nation.

Our research program is headed by Graham Warren, MD, PhD. The impact of the research efforts coming out of our department has influenced care not only here in the Lowcountry and South Carolina, but also across the U.S. and internationally. For example, Dr. Warren is a highly respected researcher of tobacco’s impact on cancer patients and has grant funding to support his laboratory. With Dr. Warren’s efforts and those of the rest of our faculty, our department has provided significant influence on the role of smoking cessation in preventing cancer and improving cancer outcomes. These efforts have decreased smoking rates and well as decreased costs of hospital re-admissions here at MUSC and at facilities across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, Dr. Warren has authored two U.S. Surgeon General’s reports on tobacco and its impact on cancer. Our faculty have also worked with industry to introduce new technologies in the management of cancer in the Lowcountry, South Carolina, and around the world.

My mentor, former Chair of our department Dr. J. “Buddy” Jenrette, was always exclaiming our group as the “best team anywhere.” It is my honor and challenge to continue to lead our best team in Dr. Jenrette’s  tradition of excellence. We invite you to dig deeper into our department and see what we have to offer. The rest of our website will provide more information on our three-fold mission of excellence in clinical care, education and research. Don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more. Welcome.

David T. Marshall, M.D., M.S.
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Professor of Radiation Oncology and Urology