What Happens During External Radiation Therapy for Kidney Cancer

Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy

External radiation is the most common type for kidney cancer. You can get this on an outpatient basis in a hospital or a clinic. You will not be radioactive afterward.

To prepare for your treatment, you will spend a session, called a simulation, with your radiation therapist. This will help determine which position you’ll need to be in during future treatments. Your doctor will want to make sure that the radiation is directed at the exact same spot each time. The appointment may take up to 2 hours. Here’s what you can expect to happen.

• You’ll lie still on a table while a radiation therapist uses a machine to define your treatment field. That’s the exact area on your body where the radiation will be aimed. You may have more than one treatment field if you have cancer in more than one place. Once you’ve found a comfortable position and it’s clear where the radiation needs to go, the radiation therapist will mark your body with ink. It won’t wash off right away in the shower.

• A radiation therapist may place special shields to protect organs, such as your lungs and heart, from high-dose radiation.

• You may also have imaging scans, such as CT scans. They help doctors pinpoint the exact location of your cancer.

• You may also have body molds made to help keep you from moving during the treatment.

On the days you receive radiation treatment, you may change into a hospital gown. Then you’ll lie on a table while the machine is placed over you. This is somewhat like getting an X-ray. You stay in the radiation room for about 15 minutes, but the treatment itself could take just a few minutes. The therapist lines up the machine exactly with your marked treatment fields, located during the earlier simulation.

The radiation therapist will leave the room to turn on the machine, but you will be able to talk to him or her over an intercom. You may hear whirring or clicking noises.