Radiation Therapy

views updated May 23 2018

Radiation Therapy

Definition

Radiation therapy, sometimes called radiotherapy, x-ray therapy radiation treatment, cobalt therapy, electron beam therapy, or irradiation uses high energy, penetrating waves or particles such as x rays, gamma rays, proton rays, or neutron rays to destroy cancer cells or keep them from reproducing.

Purpose

The purpose of radiation therapy is to kill or damage cancer cells. Radiation therapy is a common form of cancer therapy. It is used in more than half of all cancer cases. Radiation therapy can be used:

alone to kill cancer
before surgery to shrink a tumor and make it easier to remove
during surgery to kill cancer cells that may remain in surrounding tissue after the surgery (called intraoperative radiation)
after surgery to kill cancer cells remaining in the body
to shrink an inoperable tumor in order to and reduce pain and improve quality of life.
in combination with chemotherapy

For some kinds of cancers such as early-stage Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and certain types of prostate, or brain cancer, radiation therapy alone may cure the disease. In other cases, radiation therapy used in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy, or both, increases survival rates over any of these therapies used alone.

Precautions

Radiation therapy does not make the person having the treatments radioactive. In almost all cases, the benefits of this therapy outweigh the risks. However radiation therapy can have has serious consequences, so anyone contemplating it should be sure understand why the treatment team believes it is the best possible treatment option for their cancer. Radiation therapy is often not appropriate for pregnant women, because the radiation can damage the cells of the developing baby. Women who think they might be pregnant should discuss this with their doctor.

Description

Radiation therapy is a local treatment. It is painless. The radiation acts only on the part of the body that is exposed to the radiation. This is very different from chemotherapy in which drugs circulate throughout the whole body. There are two main types of radiation therapy. In external radiation therapy a beam of radiation is directed from outside the body at the cancer. In internal radiation therapy, called brachytherapy or implant therapy, where a source of radioactivity is surgically placed inside the body near the cancer.

How radiation therapy works

The protein that carries the code controlling most activities in the cell is called deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. When a cell divides, its DNA must also double and divide. High-energy radiation kills cells by damaging their DNA, thus blocking their ability to grow and increase in number.

One of the characteristics of cancer cells is that they grow and divide faster than normal cells. This makes them particularly vulnerable to radiation. Radiation also damages normal cells, but because normal cells are growing more slowly, they are better able to repair radiation damage than are cancer cells. In order to give normal cells time to heal and reduce side effects, radiation treatments are often given in small doses over a six or seven week period.

External radiation therapy

External radiation therapy is the most common kind of radiation therapy. It is usually done during outpatient visits to a hospital clinic and is usually covered by insurance.

Once a doctor, called a radiation oncologist, determines the proper dose of radiation for a particular cancer, the dose is divided into smaller doses called fractions. One fraction is usually given each day, five days a week for six to seven weeks. However, each radiation plan is individualized depending on the type and location of the cancer and what other treatments are also being used. The actual administration of the therapy usually takes about half an hour daily, although radiation is administered for only from one to five minutes at each session. It is important to attend every scheduled treatment to get the most benefit from radiation therapy.

Recently, trials have begun to determine if there are ways to deliver radiation fractions so that they kill more cancer cells or have fewer side effects. Some trials use smaller doses given more often. Up-to-date information on voluntary participation in clinical trials and where they are being held is available by entering the search term "radiation therapy" at the following web sites:

National Cancer Institute. 〈http://cancertrials.nci.nih.gov〉 or (800) 4-CANCER.
National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials. 〈http://clinicaltrials.gov〉
Center Watch: A Clinical Trials Listing. 〈http://www.centerwatch.com〉.

The type of machines used to administer external radiation therapy and the material that provides the radiation vary depending on the type and location of the cancer. Generally, the patient puts on a hospital gown and lies down or sits in a special chair. Parts of the body not receiving radiation are covered with special shields that block the rays. A technician then directs a beam of radiation to a pre-determined spot on the body where the cancer is located. The patient must stay still during the administration of the radiation so that no other parts of the body are affected. As an extra precaution in some treatments, special molds are made to make sure the body is in the same position for each treatment. However, the treatment itself is painless, like having a bone x-rayed.

Internal radiation therapy

Internal radiation therapy is called brachytherapy, implant therapy, interstitial radiation, or intracavitary radiation. With internal radiation therapy, a bit of radioactive material is sealed in an implant (sometimes called a seed or capsule). The implant is then placed very close to the cancer. The advantage of internal radiation therapy is that it concentrates the radiation near the cancer and lessens the chance of damage to normal cells. Many different types of radioactive materials can be used in the implant, including cesium, iridium, iodine, phosphorus, and palladium.

How the implant is put near the cancer depends on the size and location of the cancer. Internal radiation therapy is used for some cancers of the head, neck, thyroid, breast, female reproductive system, and prostate. Most people will have the radioactive capsule implanted by a surgeon while under either general or local anesthesia at a hospital or surgical clinic.

Patients receiving internal radiation therapy do become temporarily radioactive. They must remain in the hospital during the time that the implant stays in place. The length of time is determined by the type of cancer and the dose of radioactivity to be delivered. During the time the implant is in place, the patient will have to stay in bed and remain reasonably still.

While the implant is in place, the patient's contact with other people will be limited. Healthcare workers will make their visits as brief as possible to avoid exposure to radiation, and visitors, especially children and pregnant women, will be limited.

The implant usually can be removed in a simple procedure without an anesthetic. As soon as the implant is out of the body, the patient is no longer radioactive, and restrictions on being with other people are lifted. Generally people can return to a level of activity that feels comfortable to them as soon as the implant is removed. Occasionally the site of the implant is sore for some time afterwards. This discomfort may limit specific activities.

In some cases, an implant is left permanently inside the body. People who have permanent implants need to stay in the hospital and away from other people for the first few days. Gradually the radioactivity of the implant decreases, and it is safe to be around other people.

Radioimmunotherapy

Radioimmunotherapy is a promising way to treat cancer that has spread (metastasized) to multiple locations throughout the body. Antibodies are immune system proteins that specifically recognize and bind to only one type of cell. They can be designed to bind only with a certain type of cancer cell. To carry out radioimmunotherapy, antibodies with the ability to bind specifically to a patient's cancer cells are attached to radioactive material and injected into the patient's bloodstream. When these man-made antibodies find a cancer cell, they bind to it. Then the radiation kills the cancer cell. This process is still experimental, but because it can be used to selectively attack only cancer cells, it holds promise for eliminating cancers that have spread beyond the primary tumor.

Radiation used to treat cancer

PHOTON RADIATION. Early radiation therapy used x rays like those used to take pictures of bones, or gamma rays. X rays and gamma rays are high energy rays composed of massless particles of energy (like light) called photons. The distinction between the two is that gamma rays originate from the decay of radioacive substances (like radium and cobalt-60), while x rays are generated by devices that excite electrons (such as cathode ray tubes and linear accelerators). These high energy rays act on cells by disrupting the electrons of atoms within the molecules inside cells, disrupting cell functions, and most importantly stop their ability to divide and make new cells.

PARTICLE RADIATION. Particle radiation is radiation delivered by particles that have mass. Proton therapy has been used since the early 1990s. Proton rays consist of protons, a type of positively charged atomic particle, rather than photons, which have neither mass nor charge. Like x rays and gamma rays, proton rays disrupt cellular activity. The advantage of using proton rays is that they can be shaped to conform to the irregular shape of the tumor more precisely than x rays and gamma rays. They allow delivery of higher radiation doses to tumors without increasing damage to the surrounding tissue.

Neutron therapy is another type of particle radiation. Neutron rays are very high-energy rays. They are composed of neutrons, which are particles with mass but no charge. The type of damage they cause to cells is much less likely to be repaired than that caused by x rays, gamma rays, or proton rays.

Neutron therapy can treat larger tumors than conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation therapy depends on the presence of oxygen to work. The center of large tumors lack sufficient oxygen to be susceptible to damage from conventional radiation. Neutron radiation works in the absence of oxygen, making it especially effective for the treatment of inoperable salivary gland tumors, bone cancers, and some kinds of advanced cancers of the pancreas, bladder, lung, prostate, and uterus.

Recent advances in radiation therapy

A newer mode of treating brain cancers with radiation therapy is known as stereotactic radiosurgery. As of the early 2000s, this approach is limited to treating cancers of the head and neck because only these parts of the body can be held completely still throughout the procedure. Stereotactic radiosurgery allows the doctor to deliver a single high-level dose of precisely directed radiation to the tumor without damaging nearby healthy brain tissue. The treatment is planned with the help of three-dimensional computer-aided analysis of CT and MRI scans. The patient's head and neck are held steady in a skeletal fixation device during the actual treatment. Stereotactic radiosurgery can be used in addition to standard surgery to treat a recurrent brain tumor, or in place of surgery if the tumor cannot be reached by standard surgical techniques.

Two major forms of stereotactic radiosurgery are in use as of 2003. The gamma knife is a stationary machine that is most useful for small tumors, blood vessels, or similar targets. Because it does not move, it can deliver a small, highly localized and precise beam of radiation. Gamma knife treatment is done all at once in a single hospital stay. The second type of radiosurgery uses a movable linear accelerator-based machine that is preferred for larger tumors. This treatment is delivered in several small doses given over several weeks. Radiosurgery that is performed with divided doses is known as fractionated radiosurgery. The total dose of radiation is higher with a linear accelerator-based machine than with gamma knife treatment.

Another advance in intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is the introduction of mobile devices that allow the surgeon to use radiotherapy in early-stage disease and to operate in locations where it would be difficult to transport the patient during surgery for radiation treatment. Mobile IORT units have been used successfully as of 2003 in treating early-stage breast cancer and rectal cancer.

Radiation sensitizers are another recent innovation in radiation therapy. Sensitizers are medications that are given to make cancer cells easier to kill by radiation than normal calls. Gemcitabine (Gemzar) is one of the drugs most commonly used for this purpose.

Preparation

Before radiation therapy, the size and location of the patient's tumor are determined very precisely using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or computed tomography scans (CT scans). The correct radiation dose, the number of sessions, the interval between sessions, and the method of application are calculated by a radiation oncologist based on the tumor type, its size, and the sensitivity of the nearby tissues.

The patient's skin is be marked with a semipermanent ink to help the radiation technologist achieve correct positioning for each treatment. Molds may be built to hold tissues in exactly the right place each time.

Aftercare

Many patients experience skin burn, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting after radiation therapy regardless of the where radiation is applied. After treatment, the skin around the site of the treatment may also become sore. Affected skin should be kept clean and can be treated like sunburn, with skin lotion or vitamin A and D ointment. Patients should avoid perfume and scented skin products and protect affected areas from the sun.

Nausea and vomiting are most likely to occur when the radiation dose is high or if the abdomen or another part of the digestive tract is irradiated. Sometimes nausea and vomiting occur after radiation to other regions, but in these cases the symptoms usually disappear within a few hours after treatment. Nausea and vomiting can be treated with antacids, Compazine, Tigan, or Zofran.

Fatigue frequently starts after the second week of therapy and may continue until about two weeks after the therapy is finished. Patients may need to limit their activities, take naps, and get extra sleep at night.

Patients should see their oncologist (cancer doctor) at least once within the first few weeks after their final radiation treatment. They should also see an oncologist every six to twelve months for the rest of their lives so they can be checked to see if the tumor has reappeared or spread.

KEY TERMS

Anemia— Insufficient red blood cells in the body.

Antibody— Protein molecule that recognizes and binds specifically to a foreign substance in the body in order to eliminate it.

Chemotherapy— Injecting drugs into the body where they circulate and kill cancer cells.

Computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan —Using x rays taken from many angles and computer modeling, CT scans help locate and size tumors and provide information on whether they can be surgically removed.

Fractionation— A procedure for dividing a dose of radiation into smaller treatment doses.

Gamma rays— Short wavelength, high energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by radioactive substances.

Hodgkin's disease— Cancer of the lymphatic system, characterized by lymph node enlargement and the presence of a large polyploid cells called Reed-Sternberg cells.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)— MRI uses magnets and radio waves to create detailed crosssectional pictures of the interior of the body.

Stereotactic— Characterized by precise positioning in space. When applied to radiosurgery, stereotactic refers to a system of three-dimensional coordinates for locating the target site.

Risks

Radiation therapy can cause anemia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, skin burn, sterility, and rarely death. However, the benefits of radiation therapy almost always exceed the risks. Patients should discuss the risks with their doctor and get a second opinion about their treatment plan.

Normal results

The outcome of radiation treatment varies depending on the type, location, and stage of the cancer. For some cancers such as Hodgkin's disease, about 75% of the patients are cured. Prostate cancer also responds well to radiation therapy. Radiation to painful bony metastases is usually a dramatically effective form of pain control. Other cancers may be less sensitive to the benefits of radiation.

Resources

PERIODICALS

Goer, D. A., C. W. Musslewhite, and D. M. Jablons. "Potential of Mobile Intraoperative Radiotherapy Technology." Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America 12 (October 2003): 943-954.

Lawrence, T. S. "Radiation Sensitizers and Targeted Therapies." Oncology (Huntington) 17 (December 2003): 23-28.

Merrick, H. W. IIIrd, L. L. Gunderson, and F. A. Calvo. "Future Directions in Intraoperative Radiation Therapy." Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America 12 (October 2003): 1099-1105.

Nag, S., and K. S. Hu. "Intraoperative High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy." Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America 12 (October 2003): 1079-1097.

Witt, M. E., M. Haas, M. A. Marrinan, and C. N. Brown. "Understanding Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Intracranial Tumors, Seed Implants for Prostate Cancer, and Intravascular Brachytherapy for Cardiac Restenosis" Cancer Nursing 26 (December 2003): 494-502.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Cancer Society. 1599 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta GA 30329-4251. (800) ACS-2345. 〈http://www.cancer.org〉.

International Radiosurgery Support Association (IRSA). 3005 Hoffman Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110. (717) 260-9808. 〈http://www.irsa.org〉.

National Association for Proton Therapy. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1303, Bethesda, MD 20814. (301) 913-9360. 〈http://www.proton-therapy.org/Default.htm〉.

OTHER

Radiation Therapy and You. A Guide to Self-Help During Treatment. National Cancer Institute CancerNet Information Service. 〈http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov〉.

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed. Lica, Lorraine; Frey, Rebecca

Radiation Therapy

views updated May 23 2018

Radiation therapy

Definition

Purpose

alone to kill cancer
before surgery to shrink a tumor and make it easier to remove
during surgery to kill cancer cells that may remain in surrounding tissue after the surgery (called intraoperative radiation)
after surgery to kill cancer cells remaining in the body
to shrink an inoperable tumor in order to and reduce pain and improve quality of life
in combination with chemotherapy

For some kinds of cancers such as early-stage Hodgkin's disease , non-Hodgkin's lymphomas , and certain types of prostate or brain cancer, radiation therapy alone may cure the disease. In other cases, radiation therapy used in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy, or both, increases survival rates over any of these therapies used alone.

Precautions

Description

Radiation therapy is a local treatment. It is painless. The radiation only acts on the part of the body that is exposed to the radiation. This is very different from chemotherapy in which drugs circulate throughout the whole body. There are two main types of radiation therapy. In external radiation therapy a beam of radiation is directed from outside the body at the cancer. In internal radiation therapy, called brachytherapy or implant therapy, where a source of radioactivity is surgically placed inside the body near the cancer.

How radiation therapy works

The protein that carries the code controlling most activities in the cell is called deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. When a cell divides, its DNA must also double and divide. High-energy radiation kills cells by damaging their DNA. This blocking ability to grow and increase in number.

External radiation therapy

External radiation therapy is the most common kind of radiation therapy. It is usually done during outpatient visits to a hospital clinic and is usually covered by insurance.

Once a doctor called a radiation oncologist determines the proper dose of radiation for a particular cancer, the dose is divided into smaller doses called fractions. One fraction is usually given each day, five days a week for six to seven weeks. However, each radiation plan is individualized depending on the type and location of the cancer and what other treatments are also being used. The actual administration of the therapy usually takes about half an hour daily, although radiation is only administered for only from one to five minutes at each session. It is important to attend every scheduled treatment to get the most benefit from radiation therapy.

Recently, trials have begun to determine if there are ways to deliver radiation fractions so that they kill more cancer cells or have fewer side effects. Some trials use smaller doses given more often. Up-to-date information on voluntary participation in clinical trials and where they are being held is available by entering the search term "radiation therapy" at the following web sites:

National Cancer Institute. <http://cancertrials.nci.nih.gov> or (800) 4-CANCER.
National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials. <http://clinicaltrials.gov>
Center Watch: A Clinical Trials Listing. <http://www.centerwatch.com>.

Internal Radiation Therapy

While the implant is in place, the patient's contact with other people will be limited. Health care workers will make their visits as brief as possible to avoid exposure to radiation, and visitors, especially children and pregnant women, will be limited.

Radioimmunotherapy

Radiation used to treat cancer

PHOTON RADIATION.

Early radiation therapy used x rays like those used to take pictures of bones, or gamma rays. X rays and gamma rays are high energy rays composed of massless particles of energy (like light) called photons. The distinction between the two is that gamma rays originate from the decay of radioactive substances (like radium and cobalt-60), while x rays are generated by devices that excite electrons (such as cathode ray tubes and linear accelerators). These high-energy rays act on cells by disrupting the electrons of atoms within the molecules inside cells, disrupting cell functions, and most importantly stop their ability to divide and make new cells.

PARTICLE RADIATION.

Particle radiation is radiation delivered by particles that have mass. Proton therapy has been used since the early 1990s. Proton rays consist of protons, a type of positively charged atomic particle, rather than photons, which have neither mass nor charge. Like x rays and gamma rays, proton rays disrupt cellular activity. The advantage of using proton rays is that they can be shaped to conform to the irregular shape of the tumor more precisely than x rays and gamma rays. They allow delivery of higher radiation doses to tumors without increasing damage to the surrounding tissue.

Neutron therapy can treat larger tumors than conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation therapy depends on the presence of oxygen to work. The center of large tumors lack sufficient oxygen to be susceptible to damage from conventional radiation. Neutron radiation works in the absence of oxygen, making it especially effective for the treatment of inoperable salivary gland tumors , bone cancers, and some kinds of advanced cancers of the pancreas, bladder, lung, prostate, and uterus.

Preparation

Before radiation therapy, the size and location of the patient's tumor are determined very precisely using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or computed tomography scans (CT scans). The correct radiation dose, the number of sessions, the interval between sessions, and the method of application are calculated by a radiation oncologist based on the tumor type, its size, and the sensitivity of the nearby tissues.

The patient's skin is be marked with a semi-permanent ink to help the radiation technologist achieve correct positioning for each treatment. Molds may be built to hold tissues in exactly the right place each time.

Aftercare

Many patients experience skin burn, fatigue , nausea, and vomiting after radiation therapy regardless of the where radiation is applied. After treatment, the skin around the site of the treatment may also become sore. Affected skin should be kept clean and can be treated like sunburn, with skin lotion or vitamin A and D ointment. Patients should avoid perfume and scented skin products and protect affected areas from the sun.

Risks

Radiation therapy can cause anemia , nausea, vomiting, diarrhea , hair loss (alopecia ), skin burn, sterility, and rarely death. However, the benefits of radiation therapy almost always exceed the risks. Patients should discuss the risks with their doctor and get a second opinion about their treatment plan.

Normal results

Resources

BOOKS

Cukier, Daniel, and Virginia McCullough. Coping with Radia tion Therapy. Los Angeles: Lowell House, 2001.

McCay, Judith, and Nancee Hirano. The Chemotherapy & Radiation Therapy Survival Guide, 2nd ed. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, 1998.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Cancer Society. 1599 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta GA 30329-4251. (800) ACS-2345. <http://www.cancer.org>.

National Association for Proton Therapy. 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 1303, Bethesda, MD 20814. (301) 913-9360. <http://www.proton-therapy.org/Default.htm.>

OTHER

Radiation Therapy and You. A Guide to Self-Help During Treatment. National Cancer Institute Cancer Net Informa tion Service. <http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov>

Lorraine Lica

KEY TERMS

Anemia

—Insufficient red blood cells in the body.

Antibody

—Protein molecule that recognizes and binds specifically to a foreign substance in the body in order to eliminate it.

Chemotherapy

—Injecting drugs into the body where they circulate and kill cancer cells.

Computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan

—Using X rays taken from many angles and computer modeling, CT scans help locate and size tumors and provide information on whether they can be surgically removed.