Radiation therapy for bone cancer
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells.
Many people with bone cancer have radiation therapy. Your healthcare team will use what they know about the cancer and about your health to plan the type and amount of radiation, and when and how it is given.
You may have radiation therapy to:
- shrink a tumour before surgery (called neoadjuvant therapy)
- destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will come back (called adjuvant therapy)
- treat a bone tumour that can’t be removed with surgery (is unresectable)
- relieve pain or control the symptoms of advanced bone cancer (called palliative therapy)
External radiation therapy is the type of radiation therapy used to treat bone cancer.
External radiation therapy
During external radiation therapy, a machine directs radiation through the skin to the tumour and some of the tissue around it. External radiation therapy is also called external beam radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy is usually given in small daily doses (called fractions) over a period of 4 to 5 weeks.
Doctors may use the following types of external radiation therapy to accurately target the area to be treated and spare as much surrounding normal tissue as possible.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) delivers radiation from many different angles to treat the entire tumour. In addition to shaping and aiming the radiation beams, IMRT allows the radiation oncologist to adjust the strength (intensity) of the individual beams. This reduces the dose of radiation reaching nearby normal tissue while allowing a higher dose to be delivered to the tumour. IMRT can be useful for treating bone tumours in hard-to-reach areas like the skull, spine or pelvis.
Stereotactic radiosurgery gives very high doses of radiation to a very specific area where cancer is found. It is given in a small number of sessions. It may be used to treat bone cancer that has spread to the brain or the lungs. Stereotactic radiosurgery may be available in some hospitals in Canada.
Side effects
During radiation therapy, your healthcare team protects healthy cells in the treatment area as much as possible. Side effects of radiation therapy will depend mainly on the size of the area being treated, the specific area being treated, the total dose of radiation and the treatment schedule. Tell your healthcare team if you have these side effects or others you think might be from radiation therapy. The sooner you tell them of any problems, the sooner they can suggest ways to help you deal with them.
These are common side effects of radiation therapy for bone cancer:
- fatigue
- loss of appetite
- skin reactions in the area being treated, such as dry skin or redness
- low blood cell counts
Find out more about radiation therapy
Find out more about radiation therapy and side effects of radiation therapy. To make the decisions that are right for you, ask your healthcare team questions about radiation therapy.
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