Oncology Procedures

Radiotherapy

WHAT IS RADIATION THERAPY (RADIOTHERAPY)?

Treatment against Cancer, which uses high doses of radiation to eliminate cancer cells.

WHAT IS IT FOR?

The goal of the treatment is to eliminate as many Cancer cells as possible, causing the least possible damage to healthy or normal tissue surrounding the tumor. Radiation is one of the main treatments for specific kinds of cancer, such as: Breast, Prostate, Head and Neck, Bladder, Lung Cancer and Hodgkin Disease.

HOW DOES RADIATION THERAPY WORK?

The process acts over the tumor and gradually destroys malignant cells, preventing tumor growth and its spread to other body tissue.

The healthy tissue surrounding the tumor will receive low doses of radiation, but are able to regenerate, repairing the damage produced by Radiation Therapy in an efficient way.

WHEN IS RADIATION THERAPY USED?

It can be given as an only treatment or before and after a surgery associated to Chemotherapy.

Unlike Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy only affects the part of the body that was treated.

HOW IS RADIATION THERAPY GIVEN?

It is given in 3 ways:

• External Radiation Therapy.
• Internal Radiation Therapy.
• Systemic Radiation Therapy: When radioactive drugs (radiopharmaceuticals) are either ingested or injected.

FAQS

WHO GIVES RADIATION THERAPY?

The team at Cancun Oncology Center is integrated by highly specialized doctors such as: Radiation Oncologists, Medical Physicists, Radiation Therapy Technologists and Radiation Therapy Nurses; all of them are qualified, certified professionals with a wide experience in everything related to Cancer facts.

We use the latest technology to offer you the best options for Cancer treatment, with the support of a group of international medical advisers.

During your radiation therapy, you will have a team of medical professionals caring for you. This team may include:

• Radiation Oncologist: A doctor specially trained to treat Cancer patients with radiation. This doctor is in charge of your radiation treatment plan.
• Radiation Physicist: This is the person who makes sure the radiation equipment is working as it should and gives you the doses prescribed by your Radiation Oncologist.
• Dosimetrist: He is supervised by the Radiation Physicist; this person helps the Radiation Oncologist to plan the treatment.
• Radiation Therapist or Radiation Therapy Technologist: This is the person who operates the radiation equipment and positions you for treatment.
• Radiation Therapy Nurse: This nurse has special training in treatments for Cancer and can give you information about radiation treatment and managing side effects.

HOW DOES THE DOCTOR PLAN THE TREATMENT?

After a physical exam and a review of your medical history, as well as your test results, the doctor will pinpoint the area of the body to be treated. This is done a couple of days before starting Radiation Therapy in a process called Simulation. You will be asked to lay down and remain very still on a table, while the Radiation Therapy Technologist uses a special x-ray machine to define your treatment field (also called the treatment port).

According to the information given by the Simulation process and other tests, as well as the diagnosis, the doctor will decide how much radiation is needed, how it will be given and how many treatments will be necessary.

HOW LONG DOES A RADIATION THERAPY TREATMENT LAST?

Treatment itself takes only a few minutes, but each sessions (or treatment) can last 15 to 30 minutes due to the time it takes to set up the equipment and put you in the correct position.

WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF RADIATION?

It depends on the area of your body that receives the treatment. The people of Radiation Therapy will inform you about the care you need.

Side effects vary from person to person, and they depend on the doses of radiation and the body that is receiving the treatment. Some patients will not show side effects at all, meanwhile some others will. There is no way to predict who will have these and who won’t.

WILL MY BODY BE RADIOACTIVE DURING OR AFTER AN EXTERNAL RADIATION TREATMENT?

External Radiation Therapy affects a group of cells in the body only for a moment. Since there is not a radiation source within the body, you are not radioactive at any time during or after the treatment.

IF CANCER COMES BACK, IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE GIVEN RADIATION THERAPY AGAIN?

There are limits over the quantity of radiation that a person can receive in all his/her life. Doctors are informed about the quantity of radiation that healthy parts of the body can receive without causing irreversible damage. Based on this information they make their decision on how much radiation to give and where to pinpoint it during the treatment. If some part of the body has already received radiation, this part could not probably receive radiation again. This will depend on how much radiation this person received on the last treatment. If a part of the body has already received the maximum quantity of radiation that can be given in their life, it might be possible that this person receives radiation again, although targeted to a different part of the body if the distance between them is wide enough.

Chemotherapy

The service of Medical Oncology and Chemotherapy at Cancun Oncology Center is formed by the area of external consultation and the area of ambulatory chemotherapy. With the purpose of offering a multidisciplinary treatment, patients are given in these areas the required attention according to their disease’s stage and suffering, allowing a closer contact among patients and the services of surgical oncology and Radiation Therapy Oncology.

Chemotherapy definition

Chemotherapy is a treatment given to patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. It is denominated as a "systemic treatment", which means it travels throughout the blood, getting into all over the body after it has been administered. However, there are some parts of the body where pharmaceuticals for chemotherapy have a lower penetration: Central Nervous System and in men; testicles.

Chemotherapy’s targeted area are those cells with a velocity of high duplication, for instance cancerous cells in which velocity of growth is very high and is totally out of control. Since it is impossible to make a difference between normal and malignant cells when giving this treatment, the purpose of destroying malignant cells is not only towards them. Unfortunately it damages healthy cells with a high velocity of growth such as: skin, hair, nails, mucous membranes (from the mouth up to the anus); and main complications or side effects of the treatment could derive from it.

Treatment’s objectives?

Due to it is a systemic treatment it has a precise prescription: in metastasic disease (widespread) in order to reach all sites of the disease or when it is in earlier stages, this treatment is used to help to prevent relapses or Cancer recurrences after a treatment like a surgery and Radiation Therapy, which is fundamental to maintain the disease under control.