Radiation Therapy Process Breast Cancer

It is usually only appropriate for select patients with early stage breast cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes.

Radiation therapy process breast cancer.

It is the most common radiation therapy treatment for cancer. 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. Whether you or someone you love has cancer knowing what to expect can help you cope. Because it is so important to position the angles of radiation accurately the planning session can sometimes last up to an hour.

Radiation therapy most often uses x rays but protons or other types of energy also can be used. Brain metastasis brain tumors breast cancer view all close cancer types c. 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.

Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells. A machine outside the body focuses the radiation on the area affected by the cancer. The term radiation therapy most often refers to external beam radiation therapy. What happens during your radiation therapy treatment depends on the kind of radiation therapy you receive.

External beam radiation therapy delivers radiation from a machine outside the body. 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. This is the most common type of radiation therapy for women with breast cancer.

These steps include initial consul tation simulation treatment planning treatment delivery and post. Each session is quick lasting about 15 minutes. 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. Overall there are five basic steps of radiation therapy that we can share to give patients an idea of what to expect.

Rapidly growing cells such as cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy than are normal cells. Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. Learn more about possible side effects.