How is radiation used to treat gynecological cancers? What are the different types, and when are each used?
Georgia P., Massachusetts, USA: For endometrial cancer with spread to the lymph nodes, I was required to have five weeks of external pelvic radiation, and then a twenty-four hour internal “implant”. The lymph node containing the cancer cells had been removed, but there was always the possibility that another node still within me might contain more minute cells, and the radiation is used to kill those (possible) cells. The pelvic area was marked (using a simulator of the linear accelerator, and x-rays) and tattooed. A special shield was made to protect the small bowel from the rays, and I was radiated from all four sides to avoid concentrated rays to the skin. The actual radiation was painless and took about a minute or two, done daily, five days per week, for five weeks. Two weeks later I was admitted to the hospital for the internal.
Georgia P., Massachusetts, USA: For endometrial cancer with spread to the lymph nodes, I was required to have five weeks of external pelvic radiation, and then a twenty-four hour internal “implant”. The lymph node containing the cancer cells had been removed, but there was always the possibility that another node still within me might contain more minute cells, and the radiation is used to kill those (possible) cells. The pelvic area was marked (using a simulator of the linear accelerator, and x-rays) and tattooed. A special shield was made to protect the small bowel from the rays, and I was radiated from all four sides to avoid concentrated rays to the skin. The actual radiation was painless and took about a minute or two, done daily, five days per week, for five weeks. Two weeks later I was admitted to the hospital for the internal. This was a plastic “tampon” filled with radioactive material, inserted into the vagina, and kept in place while I was immobile, and in isolation, for twe
