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Treatments Using Radiation

Radiation therapy is a treatment used to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. About 50 percent of people who are diagnosed with cancer will receive some form of radiation therapy during their course of treatment. Radiation injures or destroys both good and bad cells in the area being treated by altering their genetic material, making it impossible for the cells to grow and reproduce. Most normal "good" cells, however, are healthy enough to recover from the radiation and regain normal function.

  1. Forms of Radiation Treatments

    • Radiation treatment may be internal or external. External radiation is most often used because it is non-invasive. External radiation is supplied by an external power source and is usually done on an outpatient basis. Internal radiation requires that a radioactive device be implanted into or near the tumor. It usually requires a hospital stay.

    Stereotactic Radio Surgery

    • This type of radiation treatment does not actually involve surgery. It is used to deliver a large dose of radiation to destroy tumor tissue within the brain. The patient's head is placed in a special frame, and high-dose radiation is beamed directly at the tumor. The frame is used to hold the patient's head in an exact position during the radiation so as not to damage healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.

    Intraoperative Radiation Treatment

    • A form of external radiation treatment administered during surgery, it is used to treat localized tumors that are not able to be completely removed or have an increased risk of returning in adjacent tissues. After the surgeon removes all or part of the tumor, a large, high-energy beam of radiation is aimed at the tumor site. Special shields are used to protect the surrounding tissues. It is commonly used in the treatment of colorectal and thyroid cancers, cancer of the pancreas and of the small intestines and is even used for the treatment of pelvic tumors.

    3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy

    • With this procedure, a three-dimensional image of the tumor is obtained during a PET scan. With this image, special computer programs will design a treatment plan using a radiation beam that conforms to the shape of the tumor. Radiation is then directed at the tumor. Because the exact shape of the tumor is known, there is little chance of damaging healthy tissue around the tumor. This is especially useful with irregular-shaped tumors, such as those commonly found in the prostate, lung, nose and brain.

    Intensity Modulated Radiation Treatments

    • IMRT is a type of three-dimensional radiation treatment that uses pulsations of radioactive beams, usually of varying intensities. It is used to deliver multiple doses of radiation to different areas of the tumor at the same time. Usually higher doses of radiation are applied to the interior of the tumor while lower doses are applied to the outer edges of the tumor and nearby healthy tissue. This can be used to deliver a substantially higher dose of radiation to the tumor than with other lesser-controlled means.

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