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Radiation therapy is a critical tool for treating cancer. It can also be a valuable option for palliative care to reduce pain and improve quality of life. At Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, we use precisely focused, high-energy beams of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
Radiation therapy can destroy tumors and/or prevent them from returning. For some cancers, radiation can be uses as an alternative to surgery for patients who are unable to undergo surgery. Sometimes radiation is used before surgery to shrink a tumor or given after surgery to destroy the remaining cells. In people with advanced cancer, radiation may be used to reduce suffering caused by the disease. The radiation bean is adjusted to each patient’s tumor and body to more accurately direct the treatment and spare healthy tissue.
Our doctors deliver radiation therapy in a variety of forms depending on the type of cancer, the location of the tumor and the cancer stage. Radiation treatments include the following:
Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy is the placement of the radiation source inside your body. There are two types: High Dose Radiation (HDR) and Low Dose Radiation (LDR). Radiation oncologists implant radioactive seeds or wires into the cancerous area to treat many cancers, including prostate, breast, head and neck, anal and rectal, biliary, cervical, skin, esophagus and bronchus.
External beam radiation therapy
External beam radiation therapy is the most common form of radiation treatment. It uses a machine to direct radiation at a specific part of your body. It can be offered in hypo fractionated courses (fewer treatments if applicable for the patient’s anatomy and cancer type) with breath holding and respiratory motion management. The following types are available at Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s:
Specialized radiation treatments
Radiation oncologists use the following procedures to tailor treatment to particular cancers:
Unsealed sources such as:
At Dignity Health, patients may be treated with one of several radiation modalities, or therapeutic methods, using advanced technologies depending on what their radiation oncologist prescribes. Whichever treatment is recommended, you will not receive your first radiation therapy treatment at your first visit. At that visit or possibly a subsequent visit, you will have a CT scan and measurements will be taken so that the therapy dosages and intensities can be precisely crafted to your needs. At your following visit, you will begin to undergo your treatment.
Here is information from experts at Dignity Health and the National Cancer Institute about the different types of radiation treatments available:
In general, radiation therapy can be delivered externally or internally. When radiation is delivered internally or directly into or adjacent to the tumor, it is called brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is divided into low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy (permanent, radioactive seeds) or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy.
Brachytherapy is a way to treat cancer from the inside out. Patients benefit from this type of treatment because the high-energy waves used in radiation therapy are able to kill fast-growing cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.
True Beam™ Linear Accelerator is the tool that serves as the foundation for several different types of non-invasive radiation therapy. A linear accelerator is a large machine that aims radiation at the cancer. The machine moves around you without touching you and doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t make you radioactive and the radiation can’t be seen, felt, or smelled. The linear accelerator is used with these forms of treatment:
At the Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s, we take a multidisciplinary team approach that includes radiation medicine experts. The radiation oncologists focus on radiation treatment options, while other specialists focus on other aspects of your care. Our doctors provide leading-edge radiation therapies that are unique and may not be available at other centers in our community. Above all, we focus on a precision approach and compassionate care for each patient.
For more information about radiation oncology, or to schedule an appointment, please call (602) 825-2039.
Radiation oncology is the field of cancer treatment that involves the administration of therapeutic radiation, essentially high-energy waves or streams of particles configured into specific doses.
High-dose but carefully monitored and measured radiation therapy kills cancer cells with minimal or no effect on surrounding healthy tissue and is used to treat many kinds of cancer. According to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), three cancers – breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer – make up 56 percent of all patients receiving radiation therapy. ASTRO also points out that at least 75 percent of patients are treated with the intent to cure cancer, rather than control the growth or relieve symptoms like pain.
Our radiation oncology physicians are cancer specialists who focus on treating the disease with radiation therapy, and they are a critical part of a multidisciplinary team that cares for patients at Dignity Health. Along with medical oncologists, other medical specialists, nurses, technologists and other support staff at Dignity Health, radiation oncologists are highly trained and often acclaimed by other health care professionals and medical organizations. The radiation oncology medical director at Dignity Health, Aidnag Diaz, MD, brings a wealth of experience to his work here.
The philosophy of the radiation oncology department at Dignity Health is simple: patients will receive the highest quality of care while also receiving the highest level of compassion, as we treat the cancer together. Our goal is to help you get better. We will also try to provide answers to all of your questions about your treatment.
