Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy involves the treatment of cancer with radiation. The radiation used is similar to that used to take an X-ray picture but is more penetrating. Radiation is directed to the specific area of the body where the cancer is, with the aim of destroying cancer cells whilst avoiding the healthy cells. As with all treatments, radiotherapy can cause side effects and these are discussed with the patient before a course of treatment begins.

In our cancer unit, the majority of consultants use a daily treatment regime. This requires the patient to attend for radiotherapy daily Monday to Friday for several weeks. Each treatment is relatively short, lasting on average fifteen minutes.

Treatment is completely painless. Radiotherapy does not make you radioactive and you will be able to mix freely with family and friends. Your treatment team of therapy radiographers will be able to discuss any areas of concern.

The Harley Street Clinic has recently upgraded its radiotherapy services with two new state-of-the art linear accelerators to allow Image Guided Radiotherapy, including Respiratory Gating, Cone beam CT, and Kv Imaging. RapidArc™ is also now fully operational on both machines and treatment times can be reduced to as little as 3 minutes. One linear accelerator also has stereotactic capability which complements our other radiosurgical equipment, Gamma Knife® and CyberKnife®.

RapidArc delivers the radiation in a 360-degree arc around the patient enabling the beam to follow the contours of the tumour and reducing the amount of normal tissue being irradiated.

RapidArc is basically a different way of providing what is known as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT. This form of radiotherapy uses 3D scans of the patient and computer technology to determine the dose needed and then precisely deliver that dose to the tumour itself.

Such precision is important as it helps prevent the damage of healthy tissue. Another advantage is that patients undergoing the more accurate RapidArc treatment only have to remain still for three or four minutes, making radiotherapy a far more comfortable experience.

A dedicated CT Scanner is available for the planning preparation for radiotherapy treatments giving patients a speedy and uninterrupted pathway to beginning therapy. The radiotherapy service is supported by a team of expert medical physicists and dosimetrists.

Other cancer treatments involving radiation provided at The Harley Street Clinic include Gamma Knife treatment for lesions within the skull and CyberKnife which can treat tumours that were previously very difficult and sometimes dangerous to treat.