Throughout your course of treatment, if there is anything you don't understand, or feel comfortable with, we encourage you to ask questions. Patients that have a basic understanding of radiation therapy and everything that's involved are usually more relaxed through out the entire cycle. Your oncologist or the departmental nursing staff are always available to answer questions, or discuss any problems you may be experiencing. Radiation therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with other treatment modalities, such as surgery or chemotherapy. Your oncologist and the specialists that are asked to consult in your particular case will decide which method of treatment, or combination of treatments will be best for you.
Radiation therapy uses high energy, highly focused beams of radiation.
During your treatments, you will not be able to see these beams, or feel them working, but they are. These beams are used to kill the cancer cells, or to keep them from growing and dividing while the damage to your healthy cells is minimized. The key to successful treatment is providing the maximum dose of radiation to the tumor and the minimal dose to neighboring normal tissue, except in the case of surgical tumor removal. In this instance, after the tumor has been removed, the surrounding tissue would be irradiated to ensure that any microscopic particles would be eliminated. There are essentially two types of Radiation treatment methods which can be used, internal and external.