External Beam Radiation for Stomach Cancer

Stomach Cancer Treatment: External Beam Radiation Therapy

External Beam Radiation Therapy is frequently used for stomach cancer treatment at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). As its name implies, this radiotherapy technique directs an external "beam" of radiation from outside your body onto cancerous internal organs and/or tissue within your body.

CTCA radiation oncologists use a high-energy X-ray machine called a linear accelerator to direct external beams of radiation onto internal stomach cancer tumors. A simple outpatient procedure, external beam radiation treatments last just a few minutes at a time. If incorporated into your stomach cancer treatment plan, external beam radiotherapy treatments are usually performed five days a week, over a course of six to eight weeks.

Working together with you to evaluate your individual needs as a patient, CTCA cancer doctors may recommend external beam radiation as a stomach cancer treatment for you. External beam radiation may also be combined with surgery, chemotherapy and/or a myriad of other weapons used for stomach cancer treatment in the CTCA arsenal.

Significant advancements in computer hardware and software have enabled dramatic refinements in radiation therapy treatment, planning and delivery. At CTCA, we closely follow these advancements and look forward to leveraging additional developments throughout the next decade. Recent advances in radiation therapy have made it possible to accurately target stomach cancer tumors with higher doses of radiation, while minimizing damage to your healthy stomach tissue.

External Beam Radiation Therapy poses no risk of radioactivity to you or others with whom you have contact during your stomach cancer treatment. You may continue normal activities with family and friends.

Advantages of using External Beam Radiation Therapy for stomach cancer treatment include:

• Radiation 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, and last just a few minutes at a time.

Next Topic: TomoTherapy® for Stomach Cancer