Radiation Therapy

Your cancer care plan likely includes radiation therapy—one of the most common treatments for cancer patients. Rest assured you’re in good hands at William R. Bliss Cancer Center, accredited by the American College of Radiation Oncology for providing superior care.

What is Radiation Therapy?

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors. You may receive it along with surgery and chemotherapy.

External Beam Radiation

Most often, your doctor will order radiation treatment that comes from technology called a linear accelerator. During treatment, you lie on a table next to the machine, which sends an invisible radiation beam to your tumor. Treatment usually takes place five times a week for several weeks.

Reach your best possible outcome as safely and quickly as possible thanks to our TrueBeam® linear accelerator, a powerful option for treating even the most challenging cancers.

Customized, Targeted Therapy

Trust your care team to protect healthy tissue near your tumor with one or more of these approaches:

• 3D conformal radiation therapy (CRT) – Delivers a high dose of radiation to the treatment area without affecting normal cells
• Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) – Uses X-ray or computed tomography (CT) images of your body to track tumor location and movement before and during treatment
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) – Sends precise, high doses of radiation that match the shape of the tumor
• Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the lungs, abdomen, and pelvis – Delivers one to five precise, highly focused radiation treatments to small tumors
• Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for the brain – Gives no more than five doses of extremely precise, high levels of radiation using technology similar to CyberKnife® or Gamma Knife®
• Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) – Moves the radiation beam around your body so you can lie still and spend less time in treatment sessions

Internal Radiation

Internal radiation, or brachytherapy, places a small radioactive pellet into or near your tumor. High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy can treat gynecologic, breast, skin, and prostate cancers. Because it targets a very small, specific area, it may cause fewer side effects than external radiation.

Radiopharmaceuticals

Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive medicines that treat cancer. You may receive this type of radiation therapy as an injection, especially for cancer that has metastasized (spread to new places).