Radiation oncology treatment involves the use of high-energy X-rays to gradually kill cancer cells. This treatment makes it so cancer cells are unable to grow, multiply and spread. Each year, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center administers over 30,000 radiation therapy treatments. Radiation oncology treatment is also called X-ray therapy, radiotherapy or irradiation. Radiation therapy is a localized treatment, only affecting the area of the body actually being treated. With careful planning and state of the art technology, healthy tissue and cells are protected from the radiation.
The services available include image guided radiation therapy, external beam radiation therapy (SRS and SRT), internal radiation therapy (LDR, HDR and prostate seed implant), other radiation therapies (intravascular brachytherapy and radioimmunotherapy) and imaging services. Radiation therapy can be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor. The dose of radiation used depends on many factors, including the type of cancer and whether there are tissues and organs nearby that may be damaged by radiation.
Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external radiation), may be placed inside the body (internal radiation) or may use unsealed radioactive materials that go throughout the body (systematic radiation therapy). The type of radiation to be given depends on the type of cancer, its location, how far into the body the radiation will need to go, the patient's general health and medical history, whether the patient will have other types of cancer treatment and other factors. Certain equipment and procedures are only appropriate for specific types or locations of cancer.
Radiation therapy is proof that science and technology, guided by medical expertise, can save lives. As part of our commitment to provide the highest standard of patient care with the latest equipment, the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center team (from the volunteers to the administration to the physicians) is proud to offer the most current and innovative radiation treatment technology in the nation. Our comprehensive radiation therapy services include multiple modalities of treatment, including both external and internal methods of treating cancer and other therapies for non-cancerous conditions.