The clinical experts in St. Joseph Hospital’s Radiation Oncology department work with your physicians and other healthcare providers in a multidisciplinary approach to provide comprehensive treatment.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. Side effects vary depending on the area of the body treated, and can be minimized using technological advances available at St. Joseph Hospital. These innovations include 3-dimensional CT-guided treatment planning, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT)---all of which help reduce radiation dose to normal cells and ensure tumor cells are targeted. Most people receive radiation treatments once a day, five days a week.
External beam radiation is typically not the first treatment modality for either primary or secondary liver cancers. If, however, liver cancers have been refractory to other modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiofrequency ablation or intravascular yttrium 90, external beam radiotherapy using IMRT and IGRT may be helpful to improve symptoms of pain and /or obstruction caused by the tumor.