What to Expect
What happens Before, During, and After Treatment
Once the diagnosis has been made, you will probably talk with your primary care physician along with several cancer specialists, such as a surgeon, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist, to discuss your treatment choices. These specialists will work together to help recommend the best treatment for you. Read More
In some cases, your cancer will need to be treated by using more than one type of treatment. For example, if you have breast cancer, you might have surgery to remove the tumor (by a surgeon), then have radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells in or near your breast (by a radiation oncologist). You also might receive chemotherapy (by a medical oncologist) to destroy cancer cells that have traveled to other parts of the body.
To ensure the best possible outcome, this multidisciplinary approach requires collaboration and coordination among specialists. Therefore, during your first visit you will meet with your radiation oncologist, who may consult with other specialists as necessary before your treatment begins to determine the best course of action. In addition, other members from the Cancer Center Support Services may be brought in to better help you successfully manage your treatment.
Meeting With a Radiation Oncologist
If you are considering radiation therapy, you must first meet with a radiation oncologist to see if radiation therapy is right for you. During your first visit, your doctor will evaluate your need for radiation therapy and its likely results. This includes reviewing your current medical problems, past medical history, past surgical history, family history, medications, allergies, and lifestyle. The doctor will also perform a physical exam to assess the extent of your disease and judge your general physical condition. You may also be seen by a medical student, a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant, or a nurse. After reviewing your medical tests, including CT scans, MRI scans and PET scans, and completing a thorough examination, your radiation oncologist will discuss with you the potential benefits and risks of radiation therapy and answer your questions.
Simulation
To be most effective, radiation therapy must be aimed precisely at the same target or targets each and every time treatment is given. The process of measuring your body and marking your skin to help your team direct the beams of radiation safely and exactly to their intended locations is called simulation. During simulation, your radiation oncologist and radiation therapist place you on the simulation machine in the exact position you will be in during the actual treatment. Your radiation therapist, under your doctor’s supervision, then marks the area to be treated directly on your skin or on immobilization devices. Immobilization devices are molds, casts, headrests or other devices that help you remain in the same position during the entire treatment. The radiation therapist marks your skin and/or the immobilization devices either with a bright, temporary paint or a set of small, permanent tattoos. Your radiation oncologist may request that special blocks or shields be made for you. These blocks or shields are put in the external beam therapy machine before each of your treatments and are used to shape the radiation to your tumor and keep the rays from hitting normal tissue. Often, a special treatment planning CT scan is done to help with the treatment planning. This CT scan is in addition to your diagnostic CT scan.
Treatment Planning
Once you have finished with the simulation, your radiation oncologist and other members of the treatment team review the information they obtained during simulation along with your previous medical tests to develop a treatment plan. Frequently, sophisticated treatment-planning computer software is used to help design the best possible treatment plan. The treatment planning process may take from several hours to several days depending upon the complexity of the treatment. After reviewing all of this information, your doctor will write a prescription that outlines exactly how much radiation you will receive and to what parts of your body.
External Beam Radiation Therapy Treatments
When you undergo external beam radiation therapy treatment, each session is painless, just like getting an X-ray. The radiation is directed at your tumor from a machine called a linear accelerator. External beam radiation is noninvasive, unlike surgery which is an invasive process. One of the benefits of radiation therapy is that it is usually given as a series of outpatient treatments (meaning you don’t have to stay in the hospital). You may not need to miss work or experience the type of recuperation period that may follow other treatments.
Treatments are usually scheduled five days a week, Monday through Friday, and continue for one to 10 weeks. The number of radiation treatments you will need depends on the size, location, and type of cancer you have, the intent of the treatment, your general health, and other medical treatments you may be receiving.
The radiation therapist will give you your external beam treatment following your radiation oncologist’s instructions. It will take five to 15 minutes for you to be positioned for treatment and for the equipment to be set up. If an immobilization device was made during simulation, it will be used during every treatment to make sure that you are in the exact same position every day.
Once you are positioned correctly, the therapist will leave the room and go into the control room next door to closely monitor you on a television screen while giving the radiation. There is a microphone in the treatment room so you can always talk with the therapist if you have any concerns. The machine can be stopped at any time if you are feeling sick or uncomfortable.
The radiation therapist may move the treatment machine and treatment table to target the radiation beam to the exact area of the tumor. The machine might make noises during treatment that sound like clicking, knocking or whirring, but the radiation therapist is in complete control of the machine at all times.
The radiation therapy team carefully aims the radiation in order to reduce the dose to the normal tissue surrounding the tumor. Still, radiation will affect some healthy cells. Time between daily treatments allows your healthy cells to repair much of the radiation effect, while cancer cells are not as likely to survive the changes.
Sometimes a course of treatment is interrupted for a day or more. This may happen if you develop side effects that require a break in treatment. These missed treatments may be made up by adding treatments at the end. Try to arrive on time and not miss any of your appointments. Time spent in the treatment room may vary depending on the type of radiation, but it generally ranges from 10 to 40 minutes. Most patients are treated on an outpatient basis, and many can continue with normal daily activities.
Your radiation oncologist monitors your daily treatment and may alter your radiation dose based on these observations. Also, your doctor may order blood tests, X-rays and other tests to see how your body is responding to treatment. If the tumor shrinks significantly, another simulation may be required. This allows your radiation oncologist to change the treatment to destroy the rest of the tumor and spare even more normal tissue.
Weekly Status Checks
During radiation therapy, your radiation oncologist and nurse will see you regularly to follow your progress, evaluate whether you are having any side effects, recommend treatments for those side effects (such as medication) and address any concerns you may have. As treatment progresses, your doctor may make changes in the schedule or treatment plan depending on your response or reaction to the therapy.
Your radiation therapy team may gather on a regular basis with other healthcare professionals to review your case to ensure your treatment is proceeding as planned. During these sessions, all the members of the team discuss your progress as well as any concerns.
Weekly Beam Images
During your course of treatment, correct positions of the treatment beams will be regularly verified with images made using the treatment beam itself. These images (called port films, beam films, or portal verification) represent an important quality assurance check, but do not evaluate the tumor itself.
Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy is the placement of radioactive sources in or just next to a tumor. The word brachytherapy comes from the Greek “brachy” meaning short distance. During brachytherapy, the radioactive sources may be left in place permanently or only temporarily, depending upon your cancer. To position the sources accurately, special catheters or applicators are used.
There are two main types of brachytherapy — intracavitary treatment and interstitial treatment. With intracavitary treatment, the radioactive sources are put into a space near where the tumor is located, such as the cervix, the vagina or the windpipe. With interstitial treatment, the radioactive sources are put directly into the tissues, such as the prostate.
Sometimes these procedures require anesthesia and a brief stay in the hospital. Patients with permanent implants may have a few restrictions at first and then can quickly return to their normal activities. Temporary implants are left inside of your body for several hours or days. While the sources are in place, you will stay in a private room. Doctors, nurses and other medical staff will continue to take care of you, but they will take special precautions to limit their exposure to radiation.
Devices called high-dose-rate remote afterloading machines allow radiation oncologists to complete brachytherapy quickly, in about 10 to 20 minutes. Powerful radioactive sources travel through small tubes called catheters to the tumor for the amount of time prescribed by your radiation oncologist. You may be able to go home shortly after the procedure. Depending on the area treated, you may receive several treatments over a number of days or weeks.
Most patients feel little discomfort during brachytherapy. If the radioactive source is held in place with an applicator, you may feel discomfort from the applicator. There are medications that can relieve this discomfort. If you feel weak or queasy from the anesthesia, your radiation oncologist can give you medication to make you feel better.
Depending on the type of brachytherapy you received, you may need to take some precautions after you leave your treatment, particularly if you plan to be around young children or pregnant women. Ask your radiation oncologist or radiation oncology nurse about anything special you should know.
Systemic Radiation Therapy
Certain cancers may be treated by receiving radioactive fluids in the vein (intravenous). This type of treatment is called systemic radiation therapy because the medicine goes to the entire body. An example is the use of intravenous radioactive material to treat pain due to cancer that has spread to the bone. This therapy can require one to six treatments, depending upon the type of radioactive medicine being used. Most patients feel little discomfort during this type of therapy. Depending on the type of therapy you received, you may need to take some precautions after you leave your treatment, particularly if you plan to be around young children or pregnant women. Ask your radiation oncologist or radiation oncology nurse about anything special you should know.
Follow-Up
After treatment is completed, follow-up appointments will be scheduled so that your radiation oncologist can make sure your recovery is proceeding normally and can continue to monitor your health status. Your radiation oncologist may also order additional diagnostic tests. Reports on your treatment may also be sent to the other doctors helping treat your cancer.
As time goes by, the number of times you need to visit your radiation oncologist will decrease. However, you should know that your radiation oncology team will always be available should you need to speak to someone about your treatment.
