Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. It is used in about one-third of uterine and endometrial cancer treatment plans, and is often performed after uterine cancer surgery, along with other treatments.
Radiation therapy can help to reduce the risk of uterine cancer coming back.
Penn radiation oncologists are recognized leaders in techniques that target radiation precisely to the treatment area while sparing normal tissue.
Brachytherapy for uterine cancer
Brachytherapy, also called internal radiation therapy, is a procedure that temporarily places sources of radiation in the body, either directly into or near the cancer. This allows the delivery of a high dose of radiation to a much smaller area than is possible with radiation therapy that is performed externally.
Brachytherapy requires the significant expertise and experience available at Penn Medicine to safely and effectively deliver the radiation.
Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for uterine cancer
Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) uses frequent imaging during a course of radiation therapy to improve the precision and accuracy of the delivery of the radiation treatment. In IGRT, the linear accelerators (machines that deliver radiation) are equipped with imaging technology that takes pictures of the tumor immediately before or even during the time radiation is delivered.
Specialized computer software compares images of the tumor to images taken during a simulation to establish the treatment plan. Necessary adjustments can then be made to your position and/or the radiation beams to more precisely target radiation at the cancer and avoid the healthy surrounding tissue.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for uterine cancer
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a type of high-precision radiotherapy using computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to tumors or specific areas within the tumors.
IMRT uses 3-D computed tomography (CT) images in conjunction with computerized dose calculations. This allows the radiation dose to conform more precisely to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor by controlling, or modulating, the intensity of the radiation beam in multiple small volumes. The therapy allows higher radiation doses to be focused on regions within the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding normal tissues.