What are Uterine and Endometrial Cancers?

Who is at risk of getting Endometrial and Uterine Cancer?

What are signs and symptoms of Endometrial Cancer?

How is Endometrial Cancer diagnosed?

How do you treat Endometrial Cancer?

What types of Radiation Therapy are used in the treatment of Endometrial and Uterine Cancers?

More information on Uterine Cancer Radiation. . .

How do I make an appointment to see a Radiation Oncologist at ARC?

Radiation therapy involves using high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells. The radiation causes damage to the cancer cells in a way that stops them from being able to reproduce, while minimizing damage to healthy tissues. Radiation therapy has been shown to decrease the chance of the cancer from recurring and possibly increasing survival in some with endometrial cancer.

There are two main types of radiation therapy for endometrial cancer. The most common type is external beam radiotherapy, which includes IMRT, or Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.  In IMRT, the radiation source is in a linear accelerator, which focuses the energy  on the area of the body being treated, which in the case of uterine cancer is the pelvis.  The machine and therefore, the radiation source, never comes into contact with the body. The treatment is entirely noninvasive and painless. It is similar to receiving a chest xray. 

Treatment is delivered 5 days a week (Monday thru Friday) for approximately 5 weeks and lasts only 3-4 minutes per session. The patient is in the treatment room for about 10 minutes, including set up. Prior to beginning treatment, the setup  is verified by a technician to ensure the patient is perfectly aligned. At Advanced Radiation Centers of New York, we're proud that on average, spend less than ½ hour per day in our facility, which means more time they can get back to the rest of their day and less time dealing with their treatment.

The other type of radiation therapy used to treat uterine cancer is called high dose rate or HDR brachytherapy. For this type of therapy, the radiation is delivered internally. A cylinder with a source of radiation is inserted into the vagina. With this method, the radiation mainly affects the area in contact with the cylinder, such as the vaginal cuff, which is the upper third of the vagina. Nearby structures such as the bladder and rectum get little radiation exposure. Treatment is delivered once a week for 3 to 5 weeks and each treatment lasts approximately 10-12 minutes.

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