Read article Having radiotherapy for anal cancer
This page is about having radiotherapy for anal cancer.
Having radiotherapy for anal cancer
You have radiotherapy in the hospital radiotherapy department. You are usually treated once a day, from Monday to Friday, with a rest over the weekend. Each treatment lasts a few minutes.
Planning your treatment
Radiotherapy is carefully planned. On your first visit you lie under a large machine called a simulator. This uses CT scans or X-rays, which the doctor uses to work out exactly where to give the treatment. Marks may be made on your skin to help the radiographer line the machine up accurately each time you have treatment.
Having your treatment
Radiotherapy does not hurt, and you will not be able to feel it. But you will need to lie very still for a few minutes while you have the treatment. This type of radiotherapy is called external beam radiotherapy. It does not make you radioactive.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the treating anal cancer section.
You have radiotherapy in the hospital radiotherapy department. You are usually treated once a day from Monday to Friday, with a rest over the weekend. If you are having the radiotherapy treatment with chemotherapy, you will have it for between 5 and 6 weeks. Each treatment lasts a few minutes.
Radiotherapy treatment is carefully planned. On your first visit, you lie under a large machine called a simulator. Simulators use either CT scans or X-rays. Below is a picture of someone on the simulator, taken from the radiographer's control room. As you can see, all you usually have to do is lie down. At times, the radiographer may ask you to keep very still.
You may have a thin metal wire or small metal ball placed at the anal margin so that the area clearly shows up on the scans or X-rays. The doctor uses these scans to work out exactly where to give the treatment so that it
- Kills the most cancer cells
- Misses as much healthy body tissue as possible
During the planning session, marks may be made on your skin. You will also have a few pinprick tattoos made during planning. The radiographers use these to line up the machine accurately and make sure the treatment area is exactly right each time you have treatment.
External beam radiotherapy doesn't hurt. You won't be able to feel it, but you need to lie very still for the few minutes that you have your treatment. You usually have treatment every weekday (Monday to Friday) for about 5 to 6 weeks. Below is a picture of a treatment room, showing the radiotherapy machine.
External beam radiotherapy doesn't make you radioactive. It is perfectly safe to be with other people, including children, throughout your course of treatment.
You can find out more about external radiotherapy in our main radiotherapy section.
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