Making the Decision to Have R... Health Article
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Your doctor may suggest radiation for these reasons.
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You have stage I or II kidney cancer and cannot have surgery. Radiation is done mainly to ease symptoms.
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You have stage II orIII kidney cancer. Your doctor may suggest radiation to shrink a tumor before you have surgery to take out your kidney (nephrectomy). Or your doctor may suggest radiation after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.
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You have stageIII or IV kidney cancer. Your doctor may suggest radiation to ease symptoms and improve your quality of life. This is done more often for cancer that has spread to your brain or bones.
Radiation treatments do not hurt. Unless you are already in the hospital, you usually get radiation at a clinic or hospital as an outpatient. Many treatment plans require that you get treatments 5 days a week for several weeks.
With kidney cancer, it is most common to get external radiation. This means the radiation comes from a machine outside the body.
You may talk with a doctor who specializes in both cancer and radiation, called a radiation oncologist. This doctor decides:
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The type of radiation you need
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The dose you need
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How long you need treatment
During your visit, ask what you can expect to feel during and after the treatment.