Radiation Therapy
Radiotherapy is used in the active treatment of several cancers. Its purpose is to destroy cancer cells and thus reduce the size of the tumour. Patients who wish can take a look at the radiotherapy equipment used at Docrates Hospital before their first radiotherapy session. The staff at our radiotherapy unit are also ready to answer questions relating to radiotherapy.
Radiotherapy can be roughly divided into two types: external and internal. Internal radiotherapy is also known as brachytherapy. Each has its own advantages. As the name suggests, external radiotherapy is given using a radiation source located in a radiotherapy device outside the body. Docrates Hospital has two modern linear accelerators that allow the use of all the recent advances in external radiotherapy. The latest technological advance at Docrates Hospital is the use of RapidArc technology.
In brachytherapy, the radiation source is introduced into the cancer tissue, i.e. into the body. At Docrates, brachytherapy can be given as High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Docrates was the first clinic in Finland to introduce this technique in the treatment of prostate cancer.
In curative radiotherapy, a treatment cycle typically takes 6 to 8 weeks. At Docrates Hospital, radiotherapy is always planned by a team comprising a physician, a radiologist, a radiotherapy nurse and a physicist
Drug therapies >>
Isotope therapies >>
Surgical treatments >>
New treatment methods >>