Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a method of using high-energy x-ray to kill cancer cells. It destroy the ability of the cells to grow and divide. Radiation therapy is recommended when:
1) Your tumour is fast growing (advanced stage), and invades deeply into the uterus or outside the uterus or involves blood vessels.
2) It is sometimes done after hysterectomy if your doctor thinks you're at high risk of cancer recurrence.
3) Patients not fit to undergo surgery.


There are two types of radiation therapy, and the doctor may recommend you for a combination of both of these at the same time:

External Radiation
A machine outside the body is used to deliver the radiation. This is and outpatient procedure. The treatment is often for a few weeks (normally 5 to 6 weeks), 5 days per week. You would need to visit the Radiotherapy department in a hospital for this procedure and the process is similar to getting an x-ray.

Internal Radiation (Brachytherapy)
This is a method where radioactive materials are placed near the tumour inside your body to kill the cancer cells. For uterine cancer, the radioactive source goes inside into the vagina. There are two ways to give this therapy depending on whether you're receiving radiation therapy as your main therapy or after surgery, or the equipment available in the hospital: low dose treatment and high dose treatment.

Basically, there are no difference in how well the treatment works, because you will be getting the same dosage your doctor has calculated for you needs. The low dose therapy (normally called the 'slow' treatment), the radioactive pellets are usually left in place for a day at a time for between 1 to 5 days.
For the high dose therapy, each treatment is much shorter (usually less than an hour) and you need between 2 to 5 treatments, and you can return home the same day.

Brachytherapy has significantly less side effects than conventional external radiation therapy. Common side effects are bladder irritation, vaginal irritation, diarrhea, skin reactions, fatigue, hair loss and loss of appetite.