Radiation Therapy Treatment

Radiation therapy is the treatment of cancer with radiation. This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of your cancer. The most commonly used method is called external beam therapy (from a machine outside the body), which directs radiation at your tumor.

尽管辐射会影响癌症和正常细胞，但它对癌细胞具有更大的影响。bob娱乐官网针对固化的治疗将为癌症区域（安全限制）提供最高剂量的辐射剂量，以试图杀死所有癌细胞。bob娱乐官网有时会使用较小的剂量，目的是减少肿瘤的大小和/或缓解症状。

A specialist cancer doctor is known as a radiotherapist or radiation oncologist. In this guide we will refer to him/her as an radiation oncologist. The radiation oncologist will plan and oversee your treatment, which will be carried out by radiation therapists. In addition, the team looking after you may include nurses, health care assistants, specialist nurses, counsellors and dietitians, according to your needs during your treatment.

Every course of radiation therapy is designed to suit the particular needs of the person receiving it, so you will usually be asked to make a preliminary visit to the treatment center to have your course of treatment planned. The radiation oncologist and radiation therapists will do this (in conjunction with x-rays and scans, using a machine called a simulator). Your skin will be marked with coloured pens to define where you will have your treatment. In addition, some minute permanent marks will be made using a special dye and a tiny pin prick.

These marks will enable the radiation therapists to identify exactly the right area at every treatment session. If a head shell has been made for you the guidance marks will be put on the shell rather than on your skin.

如果您对口腔和/或喉咙进行放射疗法，则在此阶段需要进行牙科评估，因为您可能需要一些牙科治疗，然后才能开始放射治疗。

If you are able to travel to the hospital for treatment there is usually no need for you to be admitted during the course. Most people are treated as outpatients, but your radiation oncologist will tell you if it would be better for you to be admitted.

During your course of treatment, you may need to have occasional blood test and/or urine test, depending on the part of your body being treated. Some people also have X-rays and/or scans during their course of treatment, which is part of the routine and nothing to worry about.

在整个治疗过程中，尽可能地过着正常的生活 - 尝试将放射疗法视为日常工作的中断，而不是一天中最重要的部分。但是，以下技巧可能会有所帮助：

Radiation therapy is given using either a machine called a linear accelerator or, for some skin tumors, a superficial x-ray unit. To receive the radiation therapy, you will lie on a couch under the machine, and be asked to remain still during the actual treatment.

否。治疗完全无痛。给出时无法看到或感觉到辐射。

No. There is no possibility of this whatsoever.

Your radiation oncologist will tell you this once the appropriate treatment for you has been decided. A course can last for anything from a single treatment to five treatments a week for six weeks depending on a number of factors, e.g. the part of your body being treated and the aim of the treatment. Most treatments are carried out daily between Monday and Friday.

这个机器与机器之间变化。一些机器operate at a faster rate than others, and it also depends on the plan worked out for you. The length of a treatment session can be anything from five minutes to fifteen minutes. Occasionally a session may take longer, but this will be explained on an individual basis. When you come for your first treatment your radiation therapist will tell you how long each session will take.

如果您觉得自己想继续工作，只要您的放射线肿瘤学家的原因不应该继续进行正常的日常治疗。但是，请问您是否需要建议。

The immediate side effects of the treatment described above will start to ease off within a week or two of the end of your course. Because of the way radiation therapy works, the full benefit of the course of treatment is not usually reached until some weeks after the last treatment session.

治疗后，您将再次在医院再次见到您，或者将其转介给您的家庭医生。第一次随访通常是在课程完成后大约4到6周，在您在治疗中心结束之前，将与您讨论此约会。但是，后续安排因人而异以及中心都有不同。您的辐射肿瘤科医生将向您解释如何安排后续约会。

Radiation therapy treatment is planned and delivered with the utmost care, but sometimes sensitive parts of the body are damaged. This is because to treat the cancer effectively, it is sometimes necessary to use high doses of radiation, close to the limits that normal tissues can withstand. The bowel, bladder and nervous system are particularly sensitive, but other parts of the body can suffer long term changes.

If you are having radiation therapy aimed at killing your cancer cells, there is about a 5% possibility of side-effects which may seriously affect your lifestyle. However, it is important to balance this against the much higher potential risks to your life, from the cancer getting worse or recurring without the treatment. On the other hand, if you are having radiation therapy to shrink the tumour and/or relieve symptoms, then the much lower doses of radiation used are unlikely to cause any permanent damage.

If the radiation therapy treatment includes the gonads (ovaries in women, testicles in men) this will affect fertility and hormone function. It is important to discuss this with your oncologist before treatment begins.

如果您将来确实有任何困难，您认为可能与放射疗法有关，请随时与您的肿瘤学家或GP联系。如果您的案件中有任何特殊的风险或问题，那么您的肿瘤科医生将与您讨论这一点。请记住，您正在提供放射疗法，因为好处大大超过了风险。