[Music]

My name is Vincent Khoo and I’m a consultant clinical oncologist working at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Radiotherapy is a form of cancer treatment.

This cancer treatment uses high-energy x-ray beams

that are delivered to stop the cells from growing.

This treatment can be used both in terms of cure

as well as to provide pain control.

The radiation beams affect the cells’ ability to multiply.

It can affect both cancer cells and normal tissues alike.

The main method that we use

to prevent normal tissues from being excessively damaged

is by shaping the fields of radiation

to match the shape of the tumour in the patient.

We often give the radiation in small packages

and these are often given Monday to Friday

for a period that can vary between five to eight weeks.

By doing it in this manner, the radiation is better tolerated by the patient,

so that each day they recover from the dose given the day before

and are ready for their next treatment.

In general, radiotherapy treatment lasts between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the technique.

The patient usually does not feel anything when they receive radiation treatment.

It is very much like lying down and having a plain x-ray done.

When they arrive at the department they will be greeted by our staff

and be given a treatment slot.

They will then be shown into the changing rooms,

where they will remove their clothes and put on the dressing gown.

At the appropriate time they will be guided into the treatment room

and asked to lie down on their back.

Prior to delivery of radiation treatment,

our therapeutic radiographers will align the patient

according to the tattoos that were placed during the simulation session.

These tattoos are aligned by laser.

After this is completed the therapeutic radiographers will leave the room.

They will also give the patient a monitor

so that if there were any difficulties during treatment,

the patient can simply press the monitor and the treatment will stop.

At treatment we will inform the patient that the treatment bed will be moving in position.

There will be instructions when each treatment beam is about to start or when it’s finished.

After completion of the radiotherapy treatment beams

the radiographers will re-enter the room and help the patient off the treatment bed.

The patients are then allowed to get dressed, given their next appointment for the next day

and are able to go home.

Most of the side effects during treatment are usually manageable,

both by prior knowledge of what they are

and they can be as simple as just tiredness,

just simply by coming for treatment every day over a long period of time.

Or they may have a dry mouth or mild episodes of sickness or even loose bowel motions.

Most of these side effects can be managed quite simply by tablets or medications.

There is always the potential for long-term side effects

after any course of radiation treatment.

Where we minimise these long-term effects

is through careful planning and evaluation of where the doses are delivered.

Areas that need more radiation dose, such as within the cancer, will get them.

And areas where we would like to avoid dose, such as important organs and structures,

we can substantially reduce the dose, often by more than 50%.

These new developments in radiotherapy

have allowed our patients to be cured and to lead normal lives.

[New speaker] For information, help, or if you just want a chat,

call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk