A radiation oncologist is a doctor who specializes in the use of radiation to treat cancer. Radiation oncology is constantly progressing.
You may have options today that were not available a year ago. A radiation oncologist will help you understand which treatments are most appropriate for your type of cancer by evaluating such circumstances as its size, location, and stage. If you undergo surgery or chemotherapy as part of your treatment plan, this may influence which radiation option you ultimately choose.
A radiation oncologist will work with you and the rest of your cancer care team to determine your treatment plan, including:
• The type of radiation treatment
• The dosage amounts
• The number of treatment sessions
• Scheduling, nutrition, and other related details
Radiation oncologists work closely with medical oncologists, surgeons, and other doctors to coordinate the most appropriate care.
Radiation therapy uses carefully targeted and regulated doses of high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation causes some cancer cells to die immediately after treatment, but most die or become due to the radiation-induced damage to the cancer cell’s chromosomes and DNA. Each radiation oncologist has specialized training in performing radiation treatment for people with cancer and those with certain noncancerous (benign) conditions. The physicians specialize by concentrating their practices on treating different cancers, including complex and rare cancers. This specialized expertise ensures precision treatment and improved outcomes.
Radiation therapy damages the genetic material of cancer cells to kill them or slow their growth. More than half of people with cancer will receive radiation.
Your physician may suggest one of these types of radiation therapy:
• External beam radiation therapy. A machine outside your body aims radiation where your cancer is located. The device can move around you to point the radiation at a precise part of your body from different directions. It won’t touch you. It doesn’t make you radioactive, so it’s safe for people to be around you. You get external beam radiation therapy at a hospital or treatment center over many weeks.
• Internal radiation therapy: Your physician puts a solid or liquid radiation source inside your body. Your physician may suggest an internal radiation therapy called “brachytherapy.” The radiation source is in a capsule or other implant item in this procedure. The radiation source may stay inside your body for just a few minutes, several days, or longer. Physicians often use an applicator or a slim, stretchy catheter tube to put the implant in or near your cancer.
• External beam radiation therapy: Your physician may use this to treat many cancers, including breast, colorectal, esophageal, head, neck, lung, and prostate cancer.
• Brachytherapy: A treatment used for some of the same cancers that external beam radiation therapy can treat. Examples are head, neck, breast, and prostate cancers. Brachytherapy often also works for cervix and eye cancers.
Uses With Other Cancer Treatments
You may only get radiation therapy to treat your cancer. Sometimes your physician can give you radiation therapy before surgery to make your tumor smaller. After surgery, you may be treated to help prevent cancer from coming back. Or your physician may combine it with surgery, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy.
Your physician may give you cancer medication and radiation together to make them work better, depending on your type of cancer.
GLOBAL LEADERS IN CANCER CARE
Across the world, GenesisCare has more than 440 centers offering the latest approaches to cancer care, including modern technology and novel therapies. With more than 5,000 highly trained healthcare professionals and support staff globally, GenesisCare’s mission is to deliver exceptional treatment and care that enhances every aspect of your cancer journey.
Our dedicated healthcare professionals are committed to finding new and innovative ways to provide attentive care. Care that’s designed to fit around you and your life—care that treats you, not just your condition.
About Dr. Larry N. Silverman
Dr. Larry Silverman is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He has published many scientific abstracts and papers in Radiation Oncology and has presented his research findings before national oncology conferences. Dr. Silverman practices a patient-centered approach to caring for his patients.
About Dr. Tyler Hollen
Dr. Tyler Hollen is a native Floridian who grew up in Sarasota County. His clinical experience includes extensive training in Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) to treat primary tumors and oligometastatic cancer, brachytherapy, and intraoperative radiation. Dr. Hollen has performed prostate cancer research investigating the outcome of patients treated with Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and has also undergone additional clinical training in Proton Therapy. He has published research in peer-reviewed journals on Head and Neck Cancer and has conducted a prospective trial investigating the role of Human Papilloma Virus in cancers of the tongue and tonsil.
To learn more about GenesisCare, call (833) FOR-MYGC or visit genesiscare.com/us.