Radiotherapy Q & A

Claire and Bondy

My lovely lady Claire and I met with Dr Stalpers my radiologist some time ago, and I sent him an email recently to clear up some questions about radiotherapy:

- What is the treatment called? Radiology? Radiotherapy? Radiation treatment?

The treatment you will receive is radiotherapy, more precisely: high precision conformal external beam radiotherapy. In case you went on googling: we do not give stereotactic radiotherapy (gamma-knife or linac-based SRT) which is only applicable in very small, well demarked, round tumors.

- Are there any dietary supplements that I can take to stimulate brain growth/regeneration?

No, there are no specific dietary needs or prescriptions. Just make sure that you eat a varied meal.

- Can you please (once again) explain the cancer logic? Radiotherapy introduces some risk of cancer, but it is better than the alternatives.

Yes, there is a small risk that radiation causes cancer in the long run (a few % above the normal population risk of 50% !!!), but the risk that regrowth of the atypical meningioma will hit you at short term (within 1-2 years) is much higher.

- After treatment, will I emit residual radiation?

No, you will not be radioactive after radiotherapy (only during the actual treatment).

- I understand it is normal to feel a little nauseous approximately 2 hours after treatment. How long does this nausea usually last for?

Some slight nausea is common, usually after the first few treatment, but is mostly mild, without loss of appetite or vomiting. Younger people experience more nausea than older people.

- Coffee and Alcohol can cause dehydration which in turn causes some swelling of the brain. Does this mean that I should avoid all coffee and alcohol during the treatment period, so that my brain does not move, making it more difficult to 'hit the target'?

Coffee and alcohol: modest amounts are not harmful. It does not make your brain 'move'. Smoking however is harmful!!

- Is the treatment I receive going to be a stream of protons, neutrons or electrons?

We will treat you with high energy photons (average photon energy between 6 and 10 megavolt; for comparison: a light bulb emits photons of 0.220 megavolt).

- Is there residual radiation that can collect in foreign objects such as clothing or jewellery?

No, nothing will become radioactive. Photons above ~20 megavolt may cause nuclear pair-formation that makes metals radioactive; the energy we use is well below that energy-level.

- I have had a CT scan on Monday to map the exact target, but not a further MRI scan since the one earlier in the year. Is the MRI scan recent enough to use to map the target location?

I had planned both a CT scan and an MRI on the same day, but for whatever reason the MRI-appointment went wrong. No problem: the CT-scan was quite sufficient to determin the target and did not show any sign of tumor regrowth.
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It was great to have a little light shed on the treatment that will be starting on Wednesday 9 April, but nobody was as happy about it as our cat Steve:

Steve (and Bondy's foot in some good ol' Norsewear socks)