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Radiation Therapy

About Radiation Therapy

There are three primary forms (or modalities) of cancer treatment:

surgery
chemotherapy
radiation therapy

At Community CancerCare, we specialize in radiation therapy. The goal of radiation therapy is to destroy tumor cells by maximizing the radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue.

"About 60% of all cancer patients will require radiation therapy as part of their care."

About 60% of all cancer patients will require radiation therapy during some phase of their cancer care. Radiation treatments may be just one part of an integrated cancer treatment plan involving other modalities of treatment including surgery and chemotherapy. Patients receive radiation therapy treatments daily over a period of two to eight weeks.

Radiation therapy is delivered in a number of different ways including x-ray or electron beams and brachytherapy, or implant therapy, which is the temporary or permanent internal placement of radioactive sources. Each patient is treated with the type of radiation most appropriate to their situation.

A treatment team comprised of a radiation oncologist, registered radiation therapists, oncology nurses, a medical physicist and a dosimetrist work together to ensure the most effective treatment for each patient.

External Radiation Treatment

External treatment does not require hospitalization or surgery, nor does it make patients "radioactive." (Patients do not "give off" radiation.)

You may need to remove your clothes and wear a gown during the treatment session. In the treatment room, which is used specifically for radiation therapy, the radiation therapist will position you on a table.

The radiation therapist may put custom-crafted shields in a holder attached to the treatment machine. These shields shape the treatment beam to your body and the area being treated. Your radiation oncologist determines the shape of the treatment beam during the simulation process. An X-ray machine called a linear accelerator or "Linac" then directs high-energy rays through your skin to the cancerous tumor.

External radiation therapy usually requires five treatment sessions a week for two to seven weeks. However, you may have more or fewer treatments depending on your special needs. Each session takes 15 to 30 minutes, but you receive radiation only for a brief time during the session.

The therapist will not stay in the room during your treatment. However, the therapist will observe you on a television monitor, and you can talk to the therapist through a speaker system.

The entire procedure is painless. If you feel sick or uncomfortable during the treatment, tell the therapist immediately.

Each week you will be weighed, and additional blood tests and X-rays may be done.

Internal Treatment

Some cancer cannot be treated with external radiation therapy because the tumors are too close to sensitive normal tissue. For example, cancers of the head, neck, breast, uterus, and prostate may require a radioactive implant. Internal treatment means that an implant is surgically placed in the body directly inside or next to the tumor. The cancer-killing radiation destroys cancer cells directly. Internal treatment may be used alone or in combination with external therapy.

Since implant therapy usually requires a hospital stay of one to seven days, the procedure is performed at either Hartford Hospital or Manchester Memorial Hospital. Most implants are left in place from one to four days, depending on the type of tumor and its location. Some implants may be left in place permanently. These implants have very low levels of radiation and are not dangerous to anyone else.

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