Common Questions and Answers
Below are a list of questions, some of which have been answered, and others that are in the process of being answered.
If you have a general question, not relating to your own personal treatment plan, for our Advisory Team Radiographer please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will do our best to get an answer for you as soon as possible.
What is curative treatment?
What is palliative treatment?
How long is each 
Radiotherapy session?
A typical session first of involves setting the patient up on the treatment couch. The couch will be set up with mattresses, knee rests and any support that was used at the time of the radiotherapy CT scanning. The aim is to reproduce the same set-up each and every day the patient attends. The patient will then lie on the couch and make themselves as comfortable as possible. The mask is then fitted to the patient and fixed to the treatment couch.
The mask is likely to have reference marks drawn on it at the planning stage. The treatment radiographers will dim the room lights so they can see laser lights which shine on the mask. The lasers are calibrated so that the beams coincide at precisely the point at which all of the parts of the treatment machine rotate. This point is called the ’isocentre’. The aim is to use the lasers to position the patient so that the isocentre is in the middle of the tumour volume.
The position of the isocentre is checked against the couch parameters i.e. couch height, couch Lateral and longitudinal measurements. The radiotherapy treatment unit shines a light onto the shell which mimics the radiation beam, so the radiographers use this light field to verify the correct area will be treated.
The treatment unit gantry will move around the patient to the first treatment position. The radiographers will once again carry out checks and measurements, then they are ready to leave the room. Radiation protection laws means that no-one but he patient is allowed in the room when the radiation beam is turned on, so the radiographers move to the console area. From here they can see the patient at all times using CCTV.
The treatment unit then delivers the radiotherapy. This is likely to involve the treatment machine rotating around the patient to different positions. Once the radiation has been delivered the radiographers will re-enter the room and immediately release the patient from their mask.
Setting up the patient takes about ten minutes. After this, delivering the radiation takes only about five minutes. Sometimes x-ray pictures are taken as well, so a patient might be in the room twenty minutes, but it is unlikely to be any more.
Will I be radioactive after my treatment?
Do you feel anything when having radiotherapy treatment?
Will radiotherapy make my hair fall out?
Does radiotherapy make you sick?
All answers are provided by Russell Fitchett, Superintendent Radiographer, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
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