Home Treatments External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT)

External Beam Radiation Therapy

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a type of radiation therapy that uses one or more beams to deliver high energy x-rays to a cancerous tumour.

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What is external beam radiation therapy?

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a type of radiation therapy treatment that uses one or more beams to deliver high energy radiation to a tumour or disease within the body.

This is typically achieved using equipment called a Linear Accelerator (or Linac for short), which produces and directs the beams of radiation specifically into the tumour or disease while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.

EBRT is commonly delivered to the patient while they are laying on a treatment couch and a treatment session will typically take around 15-30 minutes, depending on the type and complexity of the treatment. Each patient will also receive a number of treatment sessions (called a treatment course) that can range from around 10 sessions up to around 30 sessions, with one session typically being delivered per day.

Types of external beam radiation therapyTypes of external beam radiation therapy

Superficial radiation therapy

Superficial radiation therapy (SxRT) is a type of external beam radiation therapy that utilises lower energy radiation and is used almost exclusively for the treatment of tumours or disease that are either on the patients skin or up to a few millimetres in depth.

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Volumetric modulated arc therapy

Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is a specific type of external beam radiation therapy technique that allows more difficult tumours, such as ones wrapped around other important structures or ones in close proximity to important structures, to be targeted precisely without harming the important structures.

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Surface guided radiation therapy

Surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) is a specific form of image guidance that uses external cameras to produce an image of the patients external body shape that can be used to precisely align the patient prior to treatment delivery. This cutting edge technology uses visible light as opposed to high energy radiation to create the images it uses and is unique in that it can also negate the need for patients to receive permanent tattoos.

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Stereotactic radiation therapy

Stereotactic radiation therapy is an advanced treatment type that will typically incorporate many of the techniques already described here and that will be delivered to the patient using a very small number of treatment sessions ranging from one up to around five. Specific forms of stereotactic radiation therapy also include stereotactic radiosurgey (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

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Adaptive Radiotherapy

Adaptive radiotherapy (ART) is a cutting-edge treatment type that also incorporates many of the techniques already described here and is unique in that the radiation beams and delivery are adjusted throughout the patients treatment course to account for changes in the patients anatomy over time. This treatment type is used when it is likely that the patients anatomy will change over time (for example, if the patient loses weight) and where there is likely to be a clinical benefit to the patient, such as limiting the amount of radiation received by the surrounding healthy tissue.

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