Types of radiotherapy

EXTERNAL RADIOTHERAPY

Radiotherapy uses high precision radiation beam(s) so that only the tumor is targeted, reducing side effects.

Standard radiotherapy for breast cancer treatment consists of irradiation of the entire breast. In this case, the radiation comes from a machine outside of the body, with the radiation beams going parallel to it to avoid crossing the thoracic wall and damaging the internal organs. The sessions require rigorous advance planning.

However, when conservative therapy (tumor removal followed by irradiation) is being used for breast cancer at initial stages, standard therapy has disadvantages such as its length (5 days a week for 5-7 weeks) and the constant hospital traveling. As a result, other methods of breast irradiation are now been pursued.

Partial breast irradiation

Partial breast irradiation techniques – where the radiation is applied only to the affected area of the breast – are under research and already going through clinical trials.
In the future these procedures could be used in some patients going through conservative breast cancer therapy, shortening treatments and reducing side effects.

Examples include external radiotherapies (where the patient sits or lies on a couch and an external source of radiation pointed at the tumour), such as three-dimensional (3D) radiotherapy and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), and internal radiotherapies (where a device emitting radiation is inserted in the body), such as intraoperative and interstitial brachytherapy. Some of these are already at the stage of clinical trials, or even available in selected treatment centers.

Learn more about these and other new radiotherapies in research in radiotherapy .