YNHH directory assist. Depending on the type and extent of cancer, radiation therapy can be used alone or in combination with other treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy. Physicians at Yale-New Haven Hospital sometimes use radiation therapy to shrink tumors before surgery or to make patients more comfortable.
Most patients have external radiation therapy, but some patients have both types.
A new form of stereotactic radiosurgery, called Gamma Knife treatment, is now available. Before radiation therapy begins, physicians determine the exact location and size of a patient's cancer. Then, with precise measurements and a computer, they create a map. This map is used as a guide to show the linear accelerator exactly where to deliver radiation therapy, and in what dose. For internal radiation therapy, your physician implants a small radioactive seed into or near a cancerous tumor.