Radiation Therapy Process Breast Cancer

Overall there are five basic steps of radiation therapy that we can share to give patients an idea of what to expect.

Radiation therapy process breast cancer.

Radiation therapy for breast cancer uses high energy x rays protons or other particles to kill cancer cells. Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue. External beam radiation therapy delivers radiation from a machine outside the body. The oncologist or radiation technician uses a special x ray machine called a simulator and the process is called simulation because the treatment is being simulated or not really given.

What happens during your radiation therapy treatment depends on the kind of radiation therapy you receive. Brain metastasis brain tumors breast cancer view all close cancer types c. Whether you or someone you love has cancer knowing what to expect can help you cope. Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells.

These steps include initial consul tation simulation treatment planning treatment delivery and post. It is the most common radiation therapy treatment for cancer. Radiation therapy most often uses x rays but protons or other types of energy also can be used. Each session is quick lasting about 15 minutes.

The purpose of apbi is to provide a potentially more convenient treatment option compared to traditional whole breast radiation while attempting to provide similar rates of cancer control. It is usually only appropriate for select patients with early stage breast cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes. Because it is so important to position the angles of radiation accurately the planning session can sometimes last up to an hour. A machine outside the body focuses the radiation on the area affected by the cancer.

The process of radiation therapy will be customized for patients depending on which form of radiation therapy patients and their physicians choose as their options. The main types of radiation therapy that can be used to treat breast cancer are external beam radiation therapy ebrt and brachytherapy. Rapidly growing cells such as cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy than are normal cells. Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells.

If radiation therapy is recommended as a part of your treatment your provider will review in detail the proposed treatment the reasons for recommending the treatment and the potential risks and side effects of such treatment. The term radiation therapy most often refers to external beam radiation therapy. From basic information about cancer and its causes to in depth information on specific cancer types including risk factors early detection diagnosis and treatment options you ll find it here.