About Radiation Therapy

Everyone is exposed to environmental radiation from the sun. The radiation is what warms us and makes plants grow. Most people have had some experience with low-dose radiation delivered in a medical environment, such as when dental x-rays are taken to help find cavities.

In cancer treatment, radiation therapy is used in a much higher dose, not to diagnose disease, but to treat it. It is this precise, targeted process of radiation therapy that kills cancer cells and stops them from spreading, while minimizing the effect on normal, healthy tissue.

Radiation Therapy Treatment Options

At the St. Charles Regional Cancer Treatment Center, a multi-disciplinary team of doctors , technicians, nurses and support staff work together to create the most effective plan for your cancer treatment. Here are the different types of radiation therapies we use.

External Beam Radiation directs a high dose of energy into the cancer to kill the dividing cancer cells. Radiation is usually given in a series of daily treatments for several weeks. Treatments take only minutes and are painless.

  • Three-dimensional Conformal Beam Therapy uses computer technology such as MRI and CT scans to allow doctors to target a tumor, minimizing the impact to surrounding healthy tissue.

  • Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a new type of therapy that offers a larger, more directed dose of radiation to the tumor area. IMRT is most appropriate for cancers of the head, neck and prostate where tissues or other organs are in close proximity to the cancer.

  • Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), both framed and frameless, uses a single, high dose of radiation as a non-surgical "knife" to precisely treat a specific target in the brain. Used to treat certain benign tumors and as a therapy for malignant tumors, SRS is a minimally invasive outpatient alternative to surgery.

Permanent Seed Implantation (Brachytherapy) is used to treat prostate cancer and it may be an alternative to surgery for removal of the prostate in patients with early stage cancer. Treatment involves the placement of radioactive "seeds" directly into the prostate gland.

For More Information on Radiation Therapy

Radiation Therapy and You: Support for People with Cancer - booklet by the National Cancer Institute.

American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) - ASTRO created this site to explain how radiation therapy is used to safely and effectively treat cancer. 1-800-962-7876.