Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. External radiation therapy uses a machine that directs radiation directly toward the cancer. Internal radiation uses a radioactive substance sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters placed directly into the tumor. Sometimes your doctor will recommend that you have radiation therapy before surgery to shrink a tumor and make it easier to remove.
Intensity modulated radioactive therapy (IMRT)
This radiation procedure uses very precise imaging and computers to visually reconstruct the tumor. This helps the radiation oncologist plan with utmost precision what angles of radiation to focus and target on the tumor.
Radiation and colon cancer
Radiation therapy is rarely used before surgery for colon cancer. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is sometimes used during colon cancer surgery if all the cancerous tissue cannot be removed. Using retractors, surgeons separate all the healthy organs and tissue in your abdomen, keeping them safely away from the tumor and areas the cancer may have spread. This allows a strong beam of radiation to directly target these tissues without harming healthy tissue.
Radiation and rectal cancer
It is more difficult to remove all the cancer cells in rectal cancers. This is because the area the surgeon has to work in is so much smaller than colon cancer surgery. Picture your gastrointestinal track as a pipe with a bulge in the center. It is narrower at the top, where food enters your esophagus, gets larger where your stomach and intestines are, and then narrows down again as it reaches your pelvis. Reaching all of a rectal tumor may be difficult since the rectum resides in a very cramped space. Therefore, doctors sometimes use radiation to shrink a rectal tumor before surgery.
Chemotherapy and radiation used together
At times, chemotherapy assists radiation, both by fighting the cancer directly and by making the cancer cells more sensitive to radiation therapy.
If your treatment involves radiation therapy, your radiation oncologist will determine the dosage and scheduling of your treatments, will help you manage any side effects, and will work closely with other members of your care team.
Intensity modulated radioactive therapy (IMRT)
This radiation procedure uses very precise imaging and computers to visually reconstruct the tumor. This helps the radiation oncologist plan with utmost precision what angles of radiation to focus and target on the tumor.
Radiation and colon cancer
Radiation therapy is rarely used before surgery for colon cancer. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is sometimes used during colon cancer surgery if all the cancerous tissue cannot be removed. Using retractors, surgeons separate all the healthy organs and tissue in your abdomen, keeping them safely away from the tumor and areas the cancer may have spread. This allows a strong beam of radiation to directly target these tissues without harming healthy tissue.
Radiation and rectal cancer
It is more difficult to remove all the cancer cells in rectal cancers. This is because the area the surgeon has to work in is so much smaller than colon cancer surgery. Picture your gastrointestinal track as a pipe with a bulge in the center. It is narrower at the top, where food enters your esophagus, gets larger where your stomach and intestines are, and then narrows down again as it reaches your pelvis. Reaching all of a rectal tumor may be difficult since the rectum resides in a very cramped space. Therefore, doctors sometimes use radiation to shrink a rectal tumor before surgery.
Chemotherapy and radiation used together
At times, chemotherapy assists radiation, both by fighting the cancer directly and by making the cancer cells more sensitive to radiation therapy.
If your treatment involves radiation therapy, your radiation oncologist will determine the dosage and scheduling of your treatments, will help you manage any side effects, and will work closely with other members of your care team.