Cancerbackup: External beam

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Q&As on this topic

1. My mother has a cancer in her throat and has been told she needs radiotherapy. The specialist has said she will need to wear a mask during treatment. What does this mean?

last reviewed: 01.01.2005

2. Is conformal radiotherapy better than standard external beam radiotherapy for early prostate cancer?

last reviewed: 18.07.2007

3. I have early prostate cancer and I have been told I should have radiotherapy. This is going to be given from the outside. One of my neighbours, who is the same age as me, has the same condition but is having radioactive seeds. What is the difference and which should I ask for?

last reviewed: 02.08.2005

4. I am 65 years old and have recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. My doctor says it is localised and has offered me radiotherapy treatment. This will be external beam treatment using conformal therapy. I have read there is also something called intensity modulated radiotherapy. What is this and is it better?

last reviewed: 02.08.2005

5. I am going to have radiotherapy. Will it still be okay to eat curry?

last reviewed: 01.05.2004

6. I am taking hormone tablets (Casodex®) for prostate cancer. Over the last few months my breasts have started to get bigger and are painful at times. Are there any treatments I can have for this?

last reviewed: 17.05.2007

7. I have recently had a mastectomy for breast cancer. My surgeon has now had a chat with me about radiotherapy, but says he is not sure how useful this might be, and has suggested I could take part in something called the SUPREMO trial. Can you tell me more?

last reviewed: 01.06.2006

All Q&As are selected from some of the thousands asked by people contacting Cancerbackup every year. They are answered by specialists and reviewed and updated regularly.


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