Hodgkin’s Disease Treatments — External Beam Radiation

External Beam Radiation for Hodgkin's Disease

Radiation oncologists at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) often use External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) to treat Hodgkin's disease. Like its name, this form of radiotherapy directs an external "beam" of radiation from outside your body to target internal organs and/or tissue affected by Hodgkin’s disease within your body.

Your cancer doctors at CTCA may use External Beam Radiation Therapy in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy and/or a myriad of other treatments to help you fight Hodgkin’s disease. In addition to these traditional Hodgkin’s disease treatments, your care team will also provide supportive therapies to help keep you strong and improve your quality of life during your care.

External Beam Radiation Therapy uses a specialized, high-energy X-ray machine, called a linear accelerator, to direct radiation to cancerous tumors. This Hodgkin’s disease treatment lasts only a few minutes at a time and is usually given five days a week, over the course of six to eight weeks.

Advantages of External Beam Radiation Therapy for treating Hodgkin’s disease include:

• EBRT is an outpatient procedure that does not carry the standard risks or complications that accompany major surgery, such as surgical bleeding, post-operative pain, or the risk of stroke, heart attack or blood clot.
• The procedure itself causes no pain.
• EBRT poses no risk of radioactivity to you or others with whom you have contact. You may continue normal activities with family and friends throughout your Hodgkin’s disease treatment.

Radiation therapy planning, delivery and treatment for Hodgkin’s disease have improved dramatically due to significant advancements in computer hardware and software. At CTCA, we anticipate these advancements will continue to improve treatment for Hodgkin’s disease during the next decade.

By leveraging recent advances in radiation therapy, CTCA radiation oncologists can more accurately target Hodgkin’s lymphoma tumors with higher doses of radiation, while helping to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

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