Brain Cancer Treatments – External Beam Radiation
Learn More About Brain Cancer External Beam Radiation: Chat with Us | Email Us
External Beam Radiation for Brain Cancer
External beam radiation therapy is a form of radiotherapy commonly used at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). External beam radiation therapy may be used along with surgery, chemotherapy, and/or a variety of other treatment options to help you fight brain cancer.
External beam radiation therapy uses a high-energy x-ray machine (called a linear accelerator) to direct beams of radiation from outside the body on cancerous tissue within the body. The procedure lasts a few minutes at a time, and is usually scheduled for five days a week over the course of six to eight weeks.
As advancements are made in computer hardware and software, radiation treatment, planning and delivery have changed dramatically and will continue to progress. Recent advances allow radiation therapists to more accurately target brain tumors with higher doses of radiation, while helping to minimize damage to nearby healthy brain tissue.
Some of the advantages of external beam radiation therapy for brain cancer treatment include the following:
- It is an outpatient procedure
- Radiation does not carry the standard risks or complications that accompany major brain cancer surgery, such as surgical bleeding, post-operative pain, or the risk of stroke, heart attack or blood clot
- The radiation procedure itself causes no pain
External beam radiation therapy poses no risk of radioactivity to you or others with whom you have contact. While you are undergoing external beam radiation therapy for brain cancer, you may continue normal activities with family and friends.
Next Topic: 3D Conformal Radiation for Brain Cancer
