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Radiation Therapy

What is radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy treats cancer using high energy x-rays and other forms of radiation.

Radiation therapy is used to either cure or control the cancer. Your oncologist, nurse, and radiation therapist will give you more information about this type of cancer treatment.

At LRCP there are 9 radiation units that operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. These units are located on LRCP Level 1 of LRCP.

Why has my radiation oncologist decided to give me radiation therapy?

Your radiation oncologist has chosen radiation therapy for you because you may benefit from this type of treatment. If you have questions, please ask your radiation oncologist.

How does radiation therapy work?

Radiation therapy works by killing or damaging cancer cells. A few normal cells are also damaged during treatment, and this may cause some side effects. Normal cells can repair themselves, but cancer cells cannot.

There are two ways to give radiation therapy:

External treatment is given from outside your body by a machine that delivers radiation. Internal treatment places radioactive sources into the tumour inside your body or as close as possible. One type of internal therapy is called brachytherapy.

Helpful Links:

Canadian Cancer Society – Radiation

Therapy Mayo Clinic (USA) MD

Anderson Cancer Center