Radiation Beam Therapy Prostate Cancer

External beam radiation therapy side effects.

Radiation beam therapy prostate cancer.

External beam radiation therapy comes from a machine that aims radiation at your cancer it is a local treatment which means it treats a specific part of your body for example if you have cancer in your lung you will have radiation only to your chest not to your whole body. The side effects of external beam radiation therapy tend to be less severe than the side effects of other prostate cancer treatments doctors will often use external radiation therapy for prostate cancer patients who want to avoid the risks of surgery. A machine is used to aim high energy rays or beams from outside the body into the tumor. Proton beam radiation therapy treats tumors with protons instead of x ray radiation.

Depending on the stage of the prostate cancer and other factors radiation therapy might be used. When it comes to prostate cancer there are two kinds of radiation treatment. Proton therapy is a form of external beam radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays or particles to kill cancer cells.

During external beam radiation for prostate cancer the high energy beams are generated by a machine called a linear accelerator that aims the beams at your prostate gland. This therapy may be able to deliver more radiation specifically to a prostate cancer tumor with less damage to. External radiation or external beam radiation is the most common type of radiation therapy used for cancer treatment. As the first treatment for cancer that is still just in the prostate gland and is low grade cure rates for men with these types of cancers are about the same as those for men treated with radical prostatectomy.

Radiation therapy has long been a staple of treatment for many types of cancers. Proton therapy may be another way to deliver a high radiation dose to the prostate while lowering the radiation dose to normal surrounding tissue. That finding comes from a study that used existing patient data to compare the two types of radiation. Traditional radiation delivers x rays or beams of photons to the tumor and beyond it.

Some men with prostate cancer may elect to receive proton therapy. If you have localized prostate cancer that needs curative treatment you have two good options. A type of radiation treatment called proton beam radiation therapy may be safer and just as effective as traditional radiation therapy for adults with advanced cancer.