Edward Kim, MD

“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

Specialty: Radiation Oncology

Area of clinical practice

Gastrointestinal cancers, sarcomas

Sarcomas, gastrointestinal cancers

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 and UW Medical Center, 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

Colon Cancer

Esophageal Cancer

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Rectal Cancer

Sarcoma