What was called the Isotope treatment room in the late 1950s has been developed to the present-day Department of Radiotherapy both under the leadership of our hospital administration and through the unremitting efforts of generations of staff. With continuous equipment updating and constant progress of the Department, high-quality radiation therapy services are provided for patients.

In the late 1950s, with the efforts of experts Liu Yuying(刘玉英), Yang Tianhao(杨天豪), etc., introduced to the newly established isotope treatment room were a Soviet 400g radium equivalent vertical Co-60 therapy machine and a 180kv X-ray therapy machine, which, combined with intracavitary therapy using radium needles and cobalt needles, were applied to the treatment of cervical cancer as well as other malignant tumors.

In the 1960s, to meet the treatment needs, a 250kv X-ray therapy machine was introduced.

In 1973, the Isotope treatment room was divided into the Department of Radiotherapy and the Department of Nuclear Medicine. The Department of Radiotherapy, thereafter as an independent department, started to develop and grow.

In 1976, a Shanghai-made 5,000-g radium-equivalent rotary Co-60 therapy machine was introduced, thus treating several times more patients and a larger scope of tumor types.

In 1991, with the support and efforts of department directors of Li Qixiang(黎启祥), Zhang Yushu(张玉书), a Varian-1800 Linear Accelerator, a Radiotherapy Simulator, and a Brachytherapy machine were introduced in order to perform internal irradiation as well as external irradiation.

In 1998, a Beijing Daheng TPS was introduced, which was used to calculate dose, thus realizing three-dimensional conformal irradiation technology and marking the beginning of a new era of precision radiotherapy.

In 2003, under the leadership of Director Zhang Yushu(张玉书), the department introduced a Varian-600C medical linear accelerator, a three-dimensional treatment planning system, and a CT simulation system, enabling the implementation of true three-dimensional radiotherapy and more precise treatment for patients with cancer, thereby improving treatment outcomes and survival.

In 2005, Zhang Lizhen(张丽珍) was appointed Vice Head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, but at the same time was in charge of the Department of Radiotherapy. The Department of Radiotherapy, through close cooperation with other clinical departments within the hospital, treated about 500 patients annually.

In 2016, the Department of Radiotherapy was renamed the Department of Radiation Oncology, and then Professor Cao Bangwei(曹邦伟) was the head of the Oncology Department. In February of 2016, the radiotherapy equipment had been replaced with an Elekta Axesse Linear Accelerator equipped with a state-of-the-art agility gantry head, a Philips Brilliance BigBore CT-simulator, Monaco TPS with the most accurate Monte Carlo algorithm, and the Mosaiq network system. Since February 2016, they have been applied to precise radiotherapy, including precise positioning, precise planning and precise delivery.

In December 2024, Professor Liu Ningbo(刘宁波) was appointed as head of the Radiotherapy Department, In June 2025, the Department of Radiotherapy at the Shunyi Campus was established, where an Elekta Infinity Linear Accelerator, a Philips Brilliance BigBore CT-simulator, a Monaco TPS and Mosaiq network system are equipped. On July 1, 2025, the Radiotherapy Ward of Shunyi Campus was officially opened with 18 hospital beds available.