How is Radiation Therapy Given?
Radiation therapy is given in two ways: external and internal. Some patients receive both types of radiation therapy. External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), (or external beam radiation) requires a machine (linear accelerator) that directs high-energy X-rays, or particles (usually electrons) at the cancer and some normal surrounding tissue. Most people receive external radiation therapy during outpatient visits to a radiation therapy facility. Internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive source in the form of a wire, pellet or seed that is sealed and “implanted” into a body cavity near the tumor, or into the tumor itself. This is known as a radioactive implant. In general, this is called brachytherapy. In some instances, a radioactive liquid is used to treat a cancer. This may be injected into a vein, or into a sealed device, such as a balloon-containing catheter, which is positioned in a tumor cavity after the main tumor is removed surgically. Sometimes, after a tumor has been remove
Most children receive one radiation treatment every weekday, Monday through Friday, over a period of one to seven weeks. The number of weeks depends primarily on the type of tumor your child has and the objective of the treatment. Most treatments take 30 minutes or less each day. Your child will have a specific appointment each day. We try not to keep patients waiting past their appointment time. The pediatric radiation oncologist is in the clinic every day to evaluate your child’s progress and answer your questions.
There are two ways to give radiation therapy. In one, external beam therapy, radiation is generated by a machine called a linear accelerator and carefully targeted to a specific area of the body. In the other, radiation is administered internally by placing radioactive substances in body cavities or tissue.
Radiation therapy can be external beam (when a machine outside your body aims radiation at cancer cells) or internal (when radiation is put inside your body, in or near the cancer cells). Sometimes people get both forms of radiation therapy. To learn more about external beam radiation therapy, see “External Beam Radiation Therapy”. To learn more about internal radiation therapy, see “Internal Beam Radiation Therapy”.
