"Fred Hutch Cancer Center" "Cures Start Here"

Edward Kim, MD

Provider

Edward Kim, MD

Physician, Fred Hutch
Associate Professor, Division of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine

Specialty:

Radiation Oncology

Fred Hutch at UW Medical Center - Montlake
Proton Therapy

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“I am committed to spending extra time with patients and families to answer all their questions and empower them in the healing process.”

— Dr. Kim

What do you enjoy about practicing radiation oncology?

One of the things I enjoy about this specialty is that it’s structured in such a way that I get to spend a lot of time with patients. Radiation therapy is an intense experience; for a period of time, patients are typically coming in every day. So they develop relationships with me, our front desk staff, our nurses and the technicians delivering the treatment. We get to know each other on a first-name basis. One of the real joys of practicing radiation oncology is when patients come back to visit after treatment and they’re doing well. It’s rewarding to see them moving on into survivorship.

What personal experiences have shaped your approach to care?

Like many people, I have family members who have dealt with cancer. Those experiences have shaped how I work with patients in a lot of ways. For one thing, I know how stressful it can be to wait for scan results. I’ve tried to address that in my practice by lessening the amount of time people have to wait — even going over the results on the same day as the scan, when possible. I think my personal experiences have also made me keenly aware of how much a cancer diagnosis affects the whole family; there’s a ripple effect throughout a patient’s entire support community.

Provider Background

Area of Clinical Practice
Gastrointestinal cancers, sarcomas

I am a board-certified radiation oncologist who specializes in treating patients with sarcomas and cancers affecting the gastrointestinal tract. I provide care at Fred Hutch Cancer Center - Proton Therapy and Fred Hutch at UW Medical Center - Montlake, serving as the radiation oncology disease site lead for gastrointestinal cancers. My expertise includes a variety of radiation treatments, such as proton therapy — which precisely targets tumors while minimizing damage to the surrounding healthy tissue — as well as intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) and intravascular brachytherapy. These two forms of radiation treatment are used in conjunction with surgery.

Currently, my primary research area involves using radiation to improve tumor control for patients with locally advanced rectal cancers. Another area of interest is radiosensitizers, which use drugs to increase a tumor’s sensitivity to radiation. I have published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the use of radiation therapy in cancer treatment and co-authored the radiation oncology textbook Gastrointestinal Malignancies: A Practical Guide on Treatment Techniques.

Diseases Treated

Esophageal Cancer

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Languages

English

Education, Experience and Certifications

Undergraduate Degree
Case Western Reserve University

Medical Degree
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Residency
University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Radiation Oncology

Fellowship
University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Board Certification
Radiation Oncology, 2008, 2019, American Board of Radiology

Other
Internship, University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Awards

Seattle Met's 2022 Top Doctors Award
Dr. Kim has received this peer-nominated award for his exceptional patient care multiple years in a row.

Stories

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We make promising new treatments available to you through studies called clinical trials led by Fred Hutch physicians. Many of these trials at Fred Hutch have led to FDA-approved treatments and have improved standards of care globally. Together, you and your physician can decide if a study is right for you.

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Many of our Fred Hutch physicians conduct ongoing research to improve standards of patient care. Their work is evaluated by other physicians and selected for publication to the United States National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world. See scientific papers this Fred Hutch physician has written.

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