Radiation treatments at Exeter Hospital are delivered by linear accelerators using a technique called external beam therapy. The radiation comes from an outside source and is directed to the cancer inside the patient.
The patient usually receives external beam therapy five times a week. Sometimes a patient is treated twice a day. Occasionally a course of treatment is interrupted for a day or more.
It takes about five to 15 minutes for each patient to be positioned for treatment, and the treatment itself takes only a few minutes. Each external beam treatment is painless (like getting an X-ray). The treatment team carefully aims the radiation to spare the normal tissues surrounding the tumor. Still, radiation may affect some healthy cells. Patients are treated with multiple small doses of radiation with time in between treatments so their healthy cells can repair much of the radiation damage.
Generally, radiation is directed to the tumor and the immediately surrounding area. This destroys the main tumor and any tumor that has spread nearby. Higher total doses of radiation are needed to destroy the main tumor. Lower doses are given to destroy the spread of the tumor. This helps to protect normal tissues.
An entire course of radiation treatment usually lasts from one to eight weeks, depending on the type of cancer and the goal of treatment.
The Radiation Therapist gives external beam treatment following the treatment plan developed by the Radiation Oncologist, Physicist and Dosimetrist. The therapist is not in the treatment room with the patient but closely monitors the patient on a television screen. During the treatment, the patient lies very still, and can communicate with the therapist via a microphone in the treatment room.
