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| Site Navigation | Lymphoma Radiotherapy - Fields and Ports |
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Jane Yolan:
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| Radiation is given
to certain parts of the body depending on the location of the lymphoma in the body. |
Other Radiation Therapy Topics |
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| General | Delivery | ||||
| Dosage | Side Effects | ||||
| Late Effects | Resources | ||||
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Radiation therapy given to the
neck, chest, and/or lymph nodes under the arms is called radiation therapy to a mantle
field. The middle field (from about the heart to the spleen) is also
called the para-aortic field. From the spleen to the groin is called the pelvic
field - if the middle and pelvic fields are both taken together it is called the inverted
Y field. Radiation therapy given to the mantle field and the inverted Y field
is called total nodal irradiation.
The process used to identify your ports or fields is called simulation. Simulation may take an hour or two. The patient is asked to lie very still on a table while the radiation therapist uses a special x-ray machine to identify your treatment ports. A treatment port will be marked on the patient's skin using colored semi-permanent ink or permanent tattoos. These marks will be used as a guide for aiming the radiation throughout the treatment. If the marks are not permanent, care must be taken not to wash them off. If they begin to fade the therapist will darken them. The radiation oncologist, physicist, and dosimetrist will use the information from the simulation, other tests, and the patient's medical background to determine the dosage of radiation to be given. The goal is to deliver the maximum effective dose of radiation to the cancer while protecting the surrounding healthy tissues as much as possible. To help keep radiation away from healthy tissues, shielding or blocking devices may be tailor made. Finally the radiation oncologist will take the total dose calculated for treatment and divide it into several treatments over a few week period (4 to 6 weeks is common). Additional Radiation Therapy Topics: [General] [Delivery] [Dosage] [Side Effects] [Late Effects] Lymphoma Treatment Pages:
Return to the Lymphoma Information Network This page is a work in progress - if you have more complete information, references, or other information please contact us. The author is not in the medical field, please refer to qualified medical personnel for information specific to your diagnosis or treatment. Image and parts of text from PLUS program book on Hodgkin's Disease Compilation Copyright ©
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