All radiation treatment is supervised by physicians who are generally Board-certified specialists trained to evaluate and treat cancer patients using radiation. Your specialist may be called a radiation oncologist , radiotherapist, radiation therapist or therapeutic radiologist .
Whatever the term used in your particular hospital, this specialist is an important member of your cancer team. He or she may be consulted at any time during your treatment, from immediately after the diagnosis to well along in your therapy. At whatever stage the radiation oncologist joins your team, the treatment planning process follows several standard steps.
The Goal The first thing the radiation oncologist has to do is thoroughly evaluate your case. He or she will give you a physical examination, review all scans, diagnostic x-rays, pathology slides and operative reports, then will discuss your case with your primary physician, medical oncologist or possibly a surgeon. After the evaluation has been completed, a decision will be made on what role radiation therapy will play—will the goal of treatment be curative or palliative? At this point, the radiation oncologist will also decide on the method of radiation to be used—external, the various internal methods or a combination. Then the detailed planning starts.
The Simulation If external radiation is going to be used, the first step in the detailed planning stage is called a simulation, performed on a special x-ray machine built to resemble the machine that ultimately will be used.
