What is radiation therapy?

You are probably already familiar with radiation in the form of x-ray exams used in diagnostic medicine. The careful use of high energy radiation to treat cancer is called radiation therapy.

There’s no need for patients to travel to Boston to receive the most advanced cancer treatments in the region.

Internal therapy, also known as brachytherapy, uses a technique that puts the radiation source as close as possible to the tumor site. In fact, the Maddock Center was first in the state of Rhode Island to install an IMRT-capable linear accelerator in 2000, first to bring HDR Brachytherapy to Rhode Island in 1998, and first to install an ultrasound localization device with real-time imagery. Both types of treatment are available at the Maddock Center.

How does radiation therapy work?

Radiation therapy works by preventing the cells within a tumor from reproducing. Because cancer cells reproduce much more rapidly than most of the normal cells around them, malignant tumors grow out of control and may spread in the body. Radiation therapy is used to slow or prevent further growth or, in many cases, eliminate the tumor altogether. Radiation can also be used to relieve the distressing symptoms caused by a tumor.

Radiation therapy may be used alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy, surgery or both depending on the type of cancer being treated.

Therapies & Technologies at the Maddock Center:

• Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)
• Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
• Ultrasound-Guided Target Localization
• Mammosite^® Implants
• HDR Brachytherapy (site-delivered radiation treatment)
• Customized Treatment for Skin Cancer
• Instrumentation and Software