Radiation Therapies For Cancer

Radiation therapy employs X-rays as a treatment for cancer. The treatment itself is painless and usually involves treatments delivered on a daily basis for a few minutes each. The total number of treatments and what to expect during treatment each depend on the condition being treated. Your doctor will discuss this in great detail before your treatment starts.

Our department has state of the art equipment to deliver this treatment safely and effectively.

Before your therapy can begin, there is a planning procedure (or “simulation”) done to generate a treatment plan that is tailored to your anatomy and disease. This involves a CT scan performed in our department and used to generate a 3D model of your anatomy and tumor. Your doctor and the treatment planning team will then design a plan to deliver radiation to your tumor and protect the surrounding healthy tissue in order to minimize the risk of side effects.

Your actual treatment will usually start about one to two weeks after the planning process. You will receive a schedule at the time of your planning detailing the number of treatments and the time to arrive for treatment each day.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy is a type of radiation treatment that precisely shapes the radiation beam according to your body. Compared to conventional radiation therapy, IMRT provides more precise targeting of the tumor. This greatly spares normal organs surrounding the cancer. As a result, it allows for a safe increase in the radiation dose to the tumor and, at the same time, reduces side effects.

Physicians and physicists work together to create your personalized IMRT care plan. They create an extensive list of treatment objectives. Then they use an advanced computer system to design hundreds of tiny radiation beams. Together, these beams produce a high-precision radiation dose pattern.

The treatment itself uses a "multi-leaf collimator" that has many small, motorized rods of tungsten that don’t allow radiation to pass through. Your treatment team programs these tungsten rods to move in and out of the radiation beam to deliver strategically shaped beams of radiation that conform to the tumor.

IMRT is particularly well suited for some people with prostate cancer, head and neck cancer and certain types of brain tumors. Your doctor will work with you to decide if IMRT is the best treatment for you.

For small tumors, we can sometimes deliver a very intense dose of radiation over three to five days. This is often used as an alternative to surgery for tumors in hard-to-reach locations (such as deep within the brain) or for patients who would have difficulty getting surgery due to medical reasons (such as lung tumors in patients with breathing problems).

When used in the brain, this treatment is referred to as Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and in other parts of the body as Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).

During treatment, you lie in a comfortable position while our advanced cancer treatment system targets the tumor. It delivers numerous, high-dose radiation beams directly to the tumor while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. SRS and SBRT do not require surgery or sedation. These therapies minimize radiation exposure to normal tissue and organs, meaning you’ll have fewer side effects after treatment.

Our radiation experts can use SRS and SBRT to treat cancer in many parts of the body, including:

• Adrenal gland
• Brain
• Liver
• Lung
• Spine

Using Image Guided Radiation Therapy, your Cancer Care team tracks the internal, real-time movements of your body. We create images of your body each day during treatment and then make fine adjustments to the positioning.

When you’re here for radiation treatment, your care team carefully lines up the treatment area of your body to the radiation beam. To do this, we use lasers and markings on the outside of the body. In some instances, the organs inside your body can move considerably over time. Your care team uses IGRT to account for this movement and makes updates accordingly.

In some cases, the Cancer Care team places tiny radio-opaque markers inside the body. Then we use the markers’ locations to position your body for treatment. We follow the daily movement of these markers and adjust the radiation beam as needed. This gives you enhanced treatment accuracy and precision.

Radiation therapy is an important part of many cancer treatment plans. During radiation treatments, specialized equipment delivers carefully targeted and measured doses of radiation to your body. The radiation produces highly energized ions that gradually shrink and destroy cancer cells.

Learn about the members of your care team.

Radiation oncologist: The radiation oncologist is the team leader. They review your specific case, consult with you and your other physicians and plan the best course of treatment to meet your individual needs.

Radiation oncology nurse: The radiation oncology nurse educates you and your family, while monitoring you for signs and symptoms related to radiation therapy and cancer. The nurse has specialized training in caring for people with cancer. They serve as a direct assistant to the radiation oncologist during all of your clinical visits.

Medical physicist: The medical physicist is the ultimate quality assurance reviewer on the team. They ensure all treatment plans are correct, and the equipment operates correctly and is properly calibrated. They also ensure your care team delivers all treatments at the correct dose prescribed by radiation oncologist.

Medical dosimetrist:  Your medical dosimetrist takes your radiation oncologist’s prescription to calculate your dose for each treatment. They plan how best to deliver the radiation dose to your cancer cells location. Their primary responsibility is to design treatments that effectively target the cancer cells while sparing your normal tissues.

Radiation therapists:  Your radiation therapists prepare you for treatment, deliver the radiation, record and verify each treatment. They also monitor you during your therapy. They have extensive education in physics, radiation safety, anatomy and patient care. All our radiation therapists certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

Front office staff: The front office staff are the first faces you’ll see when you arrive at our Radiation Oncology Center. They handle your intake and paperwork and guide you toward all the information you need. They lead you to other members of the team to answer your questions.

Nutritionist: Nutritionists may work with you on a personal dietary plan. They can help you maximize your nutrition to keep up your strength during radiation therapy. They can help you get enough calories while choosing healthy options to improve your overall health.

Our Radiation Oncology Program was awarded a three-year accreditation after a recent survey by the American College of Radiology (ACR). ACR awards accreditation to radiation oncology programs for achieving high practice standards.

Board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field conduct these evaluations. They assess the qualifications of the team and the adequacy of radiation therapy equipment. BID Plymouth is the only hospital-based ACR accredited program on the South Shore.

What does this accreditation mean to you? It means you’re in good hands with us. It shows our experts are fully committed to offering you high-quality care using the latest technology and treatment options.

Although the vast majority of patients come to our department for cancer treatment, there are a number of non-cancerous conditions that can be treated effectively with radiation. The doses of radiation are much lower than those given for cancer and exploit the anti-inflammatory effect of low-dose radiation.

Osteoarthritis

For several decades, low-dose radiation therapy (LDRT) has been used to treat painful musculoskeletal conditions including osteoarthritis (OA) of both large and small joints. Over 15,000 patients have been treated with this method.

Dupuytren Contracture

A painless condition that causes one or more fingers to bend toward the palm of the hand. The affected fingers can't straighten completely due to knots of tissue that form under the skin. They eventually create a thick cord that can pull the fingers into a bent position. The condition gradually gets worse with time. This can complicate everyday activities such as placing your hands in your pockets, putting on gloves or shaking hands. Radiation treatment can sometimes be used to relieve symptoms and slow or reverse progression.

Plantar Fibromas/Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fibromas are painful subcutaneous growths that can develop on the soles of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the plantar fascia, tissue in the foot used during walking and foot movement. Both conditions can make walking difficult due to pain. Although both of these conditions are treated with medical and sometimes surgical intervention, superficial radiation therapy can also provide pain relief in the majority of cases.

Keloids

Keloids are chronic, non-cancerous tumors that can occur in some people after skin injuries or procedures such as ear piercings or surgery. While many people think they simply have to live with keloids, a short course of superficial radiation therapy is often used after keloid removal surgery to prevent these from recurring.

Heterotopic Bone Formation

This is a rare condition that can occur after joint replacement surgery, in which the body generates excessive bone growth around the joint during the healing process. In severe forms this can cause subsequent difficulty in joint movement. If you are prone to this condition, your orthopedic surgeon may recommend a short single course of radiation to the joint just before surgery, which can be an effective preventative measure.