Radiotherapy treats cancer by using high-energy x-rays to destroy cancer cells while doing as little harm as possible to normal cells.
Radiotherapy only treats the part of the body it's aimed at and so may be used when the lymphoma cells are contained in one or two areas of lymph nodes in the same part of the body (for instance with stage 1 or 2 NHL). For some people, both chemo and radiotherapy are needed.
what happens?
Treatment is given in the hospital radiotherapy department. It's usually every weekday with a rest at the weekend. The length of your treatment depends on the type and size of the cancer, but it's usually for a few weeks.
To make sure your radiotherapy is as effective as possible, treatment has to be carefully planned. This means a few visits to the department before treatment starts where you will lie on a machine called a 'simulator'. This allows the staff to work out the best position for you to be in during treatment. It means that your actual radiotherapy will only take a few minutes and will be really accurate.
During treatment, you'll need to lie very still. You'll be left on your own in the room, but it's only for a few minutes and you can talk to the radiographer through an intercom. Some places have a radio or CD playing while you have the radiotherapy.
how about side effects?
Radiotherapy isn't painful, but it can cause side effects; it pretty much always causes tiredness and skin problems. Other side effects depend on the part of your body being treated. Some people also feel a bit low or irritable when they have radiotherapy.
There is more information in the radiotherapy and deal with it sections.
