CANCER TREATMENTS: EXTERNAL RADIOTHERAPY
Radiotherapy is often given as an out-patient, if you are well enough to be at home and to travel each day to the hospital.
Planning is a very important part of radiotherapy treatment, to ensure that you receive the appropriate dose of radiation and that it is directed at exactly the right points on your body. Scans and X-rays will help your doctors to plan your treatment as these will assist doctors to establish the exact size and position of your tumour. Ink marks may be made on your skin where the radiation is to be directed, or if you are having radiotherapy to your head or neck region, then a see-through mould of the area may be constructed to keep your head absolutely still, and the ink markings will be made on this mould. The planning stage of your treatment may take some time and is likely to occupy the whole of your first appointment. It is tempting to feel impatient and natural to want to start the treatment as soon as possible. However, precise and careful planning is a vital stage of your treatment and cannot be rushed.
The dose of radiation you are to receive will be calculated precisely. It will then be split up into a number of smaller doses or ‘fractions’ which you will receive over a period of days or weeks, usually on Monday to Friday, with a recovery period at the weekend. The strength and number of doses will be tailored to your specific circumstances – your type of cancer and how advanced it is, and your general state of health must all be taken into consideration.
Various machines may be used to administer radiotherapy, either
from one or more fixed positions or while rotating around your body.
Before you have your treatment, you will be positioned very
carefully by the radiographers so that the radiation is directed at
exactly the right point. You may feel awkward if you have to hold a
slightly uncomfortable position, but the treatment itself is painless
and will take between a few seconds and a few minutes. In fact,
many people are surprised at how quickly the radiation treatment
itself is administered.
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