Radiotherapy for bone metastases

Tumors that spread to the bones can cause pain. Your bones may weaken and the tumors may cause pressure on the nerves, or the bone marrow.

One radiotherapy session can significantly decrease these symptoms. This is called a palliative treatment. Your practicing physician will consult other specialists to find a treatment option that will work for you.

Register at the reception desk

Please register at the reception desk at the Radiation Oncology Department before your appointment.

First consultation

You will meet with your radiation oncologist or physician assistant before your radiation treatment.

Support from radiation therapy lab technicians

Radiotherapy lab technicians will support you through the session and will ensure that you are positioned correctly.

Fixation devices

We may need to use fixation devices to ensure that your position will not change too much during the treatment.

Radiation treatment planning

After the consultation with your radiation oncologist or physician assistant, you will get a CT scan on which we will map out the radiation field. We will draw this field in ink on your body to ensure that you will be in an identical position during all treatment sessions.

After the CT scan, we will calculate the exact dose of treatment that we will deliver. If you have been brought in by ambulance, you can wait in a special room during this process.

If you have any questions, or if there is anything else that you need, our doctor’s assistants at all departments would be happy to assist you.

Treatment delivery

During the radiation treatment, you will be positioned in a position identical to the one during your CT scan. Our radiotherapy assistants will help you onto the table. They will be able to find the radiation field using the ink lines on your body.

All you will have to do is move as little as possible. The machine will turn around you to deliver radiation beams from every angle. You won’t need to move, even if you are receiving radiation from below. The radiation can be delivered through the table.

The treatment will take fifteen minutes, although you will only receive the radiation for one or two minutes. You won’t feel the beams.

Side-effects

When receiving radiotherapy for bone metastases, you may notice an increase in pain at first. Your radiation oncologist or physician assistant will make sure that you are prescribed sufficient pain medication.

When receiving radiation to the chest or abdomen, you may experience nausea or vomiting. You will be prescribed medication against nausea before your treatment.

It may take up to two weeks before you will notice a decrease in pain. We will schedule a phone consultation with you 3 to 4 weeks after your treatment during which we will ask how you experienced the effects of the treatment, and whether it has been effective enough.

You may have to repeat your treatment. Your referring specialist will continue to support you.