What Happens During External ... Health Article

You can receive external beam radiation treatment (EBRT) as an outpatient. That means you may have it at a hospital or a clinic, but you don’t have to stay the night. Usually you’ll get treatment 5 days a week. And the treatment will continue for 6, 7, 8, or 12 weeks, depending on the type and dose of EBRT you get.

This type of radiation usually comes from a machine called a linear accelerator. These are the 3 kinds of EBRT commonly used to treat prostate cancer.

• Standard EBRT. This type of EBRT directs radiation at your prostate from one direction. You lie on a table while the machine is placed over you. The experience is much like that of getting an X-ray, only it lasts longer. It takes about 30 minutes for the whole process. You’ll get radiation for about 5 minutes of that. You receive this treatment for 7 or 8 weeks.

• Conformal EBRT. This newer type of EBRT directs radiation at your prostate from several directions. This type may be best for you if you have an advanced stage of cancer. Stage III or IV is considered advanced. Your doctor may also advise it if you have a PSA of 10 ng/mL or higher. Some types of conformal EBRT use higher doses of radiation for shorter periods of time. Other types use protons instead of radiation. Both of these variations reduce the damage to healthy tissue. Each treatment only lasts a few minutes. You receive this treatment for 6 or 7 weeks.

• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).   This is high-precision type of radiotherapy. It uses a computer to control X-rays to precisely deliver radiation to specific places within a tumor, while minimizing the radiation exposure to surrounding normal tissues.

Preparing for Radiation Therapy

Before having EBRT, you may need to have a lymph node biopsy to see if your cancer has spread outside the prostate gland. You may be able to have the biopsy done laparoscopically. That means you’ll have a small incision and the nodes are removed with a special tool called a laparoscope. Or you may need a larger incision under your belly button to remove them.

Before your first radiation treatment, you’ll have an appointment to plan exactly where on your body the radiation beam needs to be directed. This process is called simulation. The appointment may take up to 2 hours. Here’s what you can expect to happen during it.

• You’ll lie still on a table while a radiation therapist uses a machine to define your treatment fields. These are also called treatment ports. The field is the exact area on your body where the radiation will be aimed. You may have more than one treatment field if you have cancer in more than one place. The therapist will make your skin with tiny dots of colored permanent ink tattoos so that the radiation will be aimed at the exact same place each time.

• You may also have imaging scans, such as CT scans, to help doctors know the exact location of your tumor to better aim the radiation.

• If you’re having conformal EBRT, you may need to have a plastic mold of your body made to help you lie still during the treatment.