Radiotherapy use high-energy rays, usually x-rays to destroy cancer cells in the area that’s treated. Although surrounding normal cells can also be damaged by radiotherapy, they can usually repair themselves, but cancer cells can’t. Radiotherapy is always carefully planned so that it avoids as much healthy tissue as possible. More details can be obtained through the MacMillan cancer website.
As your cancer specialist, your radiotherapy treatment will be delivered using state of the art radiotherapy facilities to ensure a high degree of treatment accuracy. The aim is to avoid/ minimise damage to healthy tissues and organs, causing fewer expected side effects. My previous research work was based around the use of advance radiotherapy techniques including Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) in breast cancer treatment which allows me to offer cutting edge radiotherapy treatments to my patients. Some of the modern radiotherapy techniques used in my practice includes:
Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) –the radiation beam is shaped to deliver a dose that is sculpted to the size and shape of the tumour in three dimensions, allowing a high dose of treatment to be delivered to the tumour whilst minimising dose and side effects to healthy tissue.
Image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) – 3-dimensional visualisation of the tumour/treatment area to verify the accuracy of treatment.
Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) – effective method of limiting radiation exposure to the heart and lungs and is particularly useful for treating patients with left sided breast cancer.
Your radiotherapy treatment can be delivered at the Colchester Radiotherapy centre or private radiotherapy centre at Genesis Care, Chelmsford.