Radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer

You might have radiotherapy on its own or with chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy) to treat nasopharyngeal cancer.

You have a planning session with your radiotherapy team a few days or weeks before you start treatment. First you have a radiotherapy mould (shell) made of your head and neck. This is to help keep you still during your radiotherapy treatment.

With external radiotherapy, a large machine aims the radiation beams at the cancer. You go to the hospital for treatment once a day, from Monday to Friday, with a break at the weekends. The length of the course of treatment varies but it is usually between 4 and 7 weeks.

Most people have side effects from radiotherapy to the nasopharynx. These include sore skin in the treatment area, a sore mouth and throat, dry mouth and taste changes. These are usually short term but there is a risk of late side effects.

Chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy is called chemoradiotherapy. You might have it as a treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer.