General Cancer Information

Radiation Treatments

Radiation Treatments have been used to treat cancer for almost 100 years, when a hairy mole was noted to disappear with superficial radiation treatments. Since the first therapy machines were invented, great advances have been made in radiation treatments. It was soon discovered that breaking up the radiation treatments into many small "fractions" (instead of giving it all at once) helped to "spare" the normal skin and muscle, while still effectively treating the tumor. New machines were then developed that gave much more powerful radiation beams, that penetrated deep into the body to treat internal cancers. Remarkably, these beams spare the overlying skin by deeply depositing their energy, so that deep seated tumors can be destroyed without burning the skin. Radiation works by damaging the genetic material (DNA) of cancer cells, which are not able to repair the damage as normal cells can. It can be delivered with incredible accuracy. It is very potent cancer treatment, especially when combined with other therapy.

Typically, radiation is prescribed by a cancer specialist called "radiation oncologist" who evaluates the patient and reviews their case. Before commencing treatment, the patient is "simulated", meaning they are placed on a replica of a treatment machine and the area to be treated is then marked out. Confirmatory X-rays are taken, and watercolor marks are placed on the skin which defines the area to be radiated. Often, a CAT scan is obtained along with the simulation, and the information is fed into a "treatment planning computer" which generates a "plan". The patient is given an appointment to begin treatment, at which time "Verification X-Rays" are taken to confirm positioning (they don't tell anything about the cancer). Treatments are usually given Monday through Friday, taking about 15 minutes per day, for 2 to 7 weeks. The treatments are given with a machine called a "Linear Accelerator" or "Linac" for short, and the beam is only on for a minute or two for each treat- ment. The head of the machine pivots around the patient, who is positioned on a hard table and aligned with laser lights, and the treatment is often at several different angles, with the patient lying still. Pinpoint sized permanent tattoo marks are placed to forever denote the area of treatment.

Surprisingly, radiation therapy is often very easy to take. The side effects are just in the local area of treatment. The treatments are painless. Patients do not become radioactive, get sick, or have holes burned through them. Hair loss is only in the area of treatment, so patients do not lose their scalp hair unless their scalp is being radiated.

They are usually able to maintain their diet and go about all their normal activities, including driving. The expected side-effects of radiation fall into 2 categories, "acute" and "late" reactions. Acute reactions , or "effects" occur during the treatment period, and include skin reddening and peeling in the radiated area after about 2 weeks of treatment. Patients also tend to be fatigued. Each area treated has it's own particular side-effects, as fully explained in "CancerAnswers's" transcripts on specific cancers. Late effects occur months to years after treatment is completed and commonly involve some thickening and toughening of the skin, and rarely development of second cancers at the radiated site due to the treatment. As with "acute" reactions, late reactions are specific to the area radiated and are also explained in "CancerAnswers's" information transcripts on particular cancers. Radiation, like surgery, suffers the drawback of being only a local therapy, but combined with chemotherapy it is more effective. Overall, more patients are cured with radiation treatments than any other cancer therapy today!