Radiation therapy can be directed with high accuracy to treat specific tumors with an exact amount of radiation. On your first visit to the Radiation Oncology Department of SLU Care you will meet your physician, a radiation oncologist. Your physician will prescribe a treatment plan based on information gathered from medical diagnostic tests and physical examination. A detailed individualized treatment plan is developed to attack tumor cells and treatments are designed to gradually destroy the cancer cells throughout the therapy process. Most patients receive external beam radiation treatments.
Linear accelerators are the most common type of equipment used to deliver external beam treatments.
During external beam treatments, the radiation beam is aimed at the tumor area from outside the body. Special blocks will protect the surrounding tissues. The actual treatment takes only a few minutes and is relatively painless. The entire visit takes less than 30 minutes. Most courses of radiation therapy last only two to eight weeks.