External beam radiotherapy

External beam radiotherapy (pronunciation: /ɪkˈstɜːrnəl biːm ˌreɪdioʊˈθɛrəpi/), also known as EBRT, is a form of radiotherapy that uses a machine to direct high-energy rays, or beams, from outside the body into the tumor.

Etymology

The term "external" comes from the Latin externus, meaning "outside", "beam" from the Old English beam, meaning "tree" or "ray of light", and "radiotherapy" from the Latin radio- meaning "radiant energy" and the Greek -therapy meaning "treatment".

Procedure

In external beam radiotherapy, the patient lies on a table while a machine moves around them, directing radiation to the tumor. The treatment is painless and typically lasts a few minutes. The radiation is carefully aimed to kill as many cancer cells as possible while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.

Types of External Beam Radiotherapy

There are several types of external beam radiotherapy, including:

• Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT): This uses imaging scans to create a 3D picture of the tumor, allowing the radiation beams to be shaped exactly to the tumor.
• Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT): This is an advanced form of 3D-CRT that modifies the radiation beams' intensity (strength) to deliver different doses of radiation to different parts of the tumor.
• Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT): This delivers very high doses of radiation to the tumor in fewer treatments, using special equipment to hold the patient in the exact same position for each treatment.

Side Effects

Like all treatments, external beam radiotherapy can have side effects, which can include skin changes, fatigue, and other symptoms depending on the part of the body being treated.

Related Terms

• Radiation oncology
• Radiation therapist
• Radiation dose
• Radiosensitivity
• Radiation protection

External links

• Medical encyclopedia article on External beam radiotherapy
• Wikipedia's article - External beam radiotherapy

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