radiation-therapy-ccancer

Radiation Therapy

There are a number of ways in which radiation therapy or proton therapy may be given, and the particular use often depends on the goal of treatment. It’s thought that roughly 50% of people with cancer will undergo some form of radiation therapy.

  1. External Beam Radiotherapy
    2.  In external beam radiotherapy, radiation is applied from outside of the body on a table resembling a CT machine. It may be used:
    • Before surgery (neoadjuvant radiation therapy) to reduce the size of a tumor
    • After surgery (adjuvant radiation therapy) to “clean up” any leftover cancer cells and reduce the risk of recurrence
    • As a palliative therapy to reduce pain (such as with bone metastases) or an obstruction due to a tumor
    • As definitive radiotherapy, where the goal is to cure.
  2. Brachytherapy
    3.  Brachytherapy is similar to external beam therapy except that the radiation is delivered internally, often through beads that are inserted into an area during surgery or after.
  1. Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT)
    2.  Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) or Cyberknife refers to a procedure in which a high dose of radiation is directed to a localized area of tissue. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, SBRT allows a curative dose of radiation to be delivered to the tumor cells while minimizing damage to nearby healthy tissue.
    SBRT is sometimes used to treat small tumors as an alternative to surgery, especially in people who would not be expected to tolerate surgery as well. It is also often used to treat areas of metastases, such as brain metastases due to a lung cancer or breast cancer.
  2. Proton Beam Therapy
    3.  Proton beam therapy is similar to conventional radiation therapy but uses high energy protons instead of photons or X-rays to damage tumors. It was first used in 1990, and offers similar effectiveness to radiation therapy. Due to the way the radiation is delivered, it may be less likely to damage nearby healthy tissue. For this reason, proton beam therapy can sometimes be used in an area that was previously treated with radiation (and thus, cannot be treated again with conventional radiation).

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