A method of delivering a beam of high energy x-rays to a breast cancer patients tumor is called external beam therapy or EBT for short. This beam is generated outside of the patient and is directed at the site where the tumor is located. The x-ray targets the area of the tumor to destroy the cancer cells and by careful planning, will spare the surrounding normal tissue. There are no radioactive sources placed inside the patient’s body.

Radiation treatment can be used to treat a number of diseases such as bowel cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumors and breast cancer.

Receiving EBT usually involves having a number of highly trained people who work together to form a treatment team to delivery the proper dosage of therapy. The team will usually include a radiation oncologist, a dosimetrist, a radiation physicist, and a radiation therapist. The oncologist is a doctor who evaluates each patient and makes a determination as to the right amount and kind of therapy for the patient to have. He determines the area to treat and the amount of the dose to deliver. In addition to the physicist and the dosimetrist, the oncologist will determine which techniques to use to deliver the dose. The physicist and the dosimetrist will then make detailed calculations and check everything before the treatment is delivered. The radiation therapist is the qualified technologists who will deliver each daily dose.

The radiation oncologists use a linear accelerator or cobalt machine to deliver the therapy. The oncologist will be the one who will determine which kind of equipment that is best suited to each patient’s specific needs depending on their diagnoses. The radiation therapist is the person who operates the equipment that is used. The entire treatment plan is created by the oncologist who is trained specialist in treating cancer through the use of radiation.

The treatment begins by the radiation therapist bringing the patient into a treatment room and the patient lays on a couch in the same position that the patient was in during the simulation of the treatment. At this time immobilization devices are used so that the patient can lie perfectly still. Carefully the therapist positions the patient and lines up marks on the patient that were made during a simulation of a treatment. The therapist leaves the room and turns on the linear accelerator. Beams from different directions are used and are on for several minutes.

The treatment itself can take as long as 10 to 30 minutes each day with most of the time being used to get the patient set up in the right position. The length of the treatment depends on how the treatment is given and what the dosage is. Usually each treatment will be the same each day for five days for a total of two to nine weeks. The diagnoses usually determines the duration of the treatment. On some occasions the treatments can be given twice a day.

The therapy is painless although the patients can hear a slight buzzing sound throughout the session. Sometimes some patients may experience an odd smell during the treatment caused by the ozone produced by the linear accelerator. Others have experienced seeing a coloured light during treatment but this is more normal an experience by someone who has a brain treatment.

The costs for certain medical imaging tests and treatments can vary depending on where you live. Not all procedures are covered by insurance but many are. Discuss the fees that are associated with your specific procedure with your team to better understand which portions are covered by insurance and which ones you may have to cover yourself.

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