Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy services in Virginia

The Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Virginia hospitals has board-certified radiation oncologists how use advanced technology to provide you with faster, safer and more precise cancer treatment.

We offer radiation therapy and radiosurgery treatment in a safe and effective manner. Our team will create an individualized care plan, including recovery and follow-up care, tailored specifically to your needs.

For more information about cancer diagnostics, treatments and other services, call askSARAH at (804) 591-4152.

What is radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy is an advanced form of cancer treatment that uses beams of high-dose radiation to kill cancer cells in the body. Radiation therapy can also help shrink tumors. During radiation therapy, the beams are aimed at precise locations in the body, in order to target the cancerous area while sparing surrounding body tissue.

We offer various types of radiation therapy through our comprehensive oncology program. The type of radiation therapy that is best for you will depend on your health condition, cancer type and cancer location.

Types of radiation therapy we offer

We take a highly personalized approach to radiation therapy. When you first meet with our team of radiation therapy specialists, we will take the time to carefully review your case, talk to you about what you can expect from your treatment and map out an individualized treatment plan.

You and your physician typically choose from two general types of radiation therapy — brachytherapy or external bean radiation therapy. They may also suggest using a combination of both therapies to treat your specific type of cancer.

Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy involves the internal application of a radiation source. One of the most commonly prescribed forms of brachytherapy is high-dose rate brachytherapy (HDR).

HDR is a type of internal radiation therapy that delivers radiation from implants placed close to or inside of the tumor. This treatment involves inserting a source of radioactive material—often called a "seed"—into a body cavity. For treatment of gynecologic cancer or breast cancer, this sealed source is sent into the body through a catheter for a short period of time, usually just a few minutes.

External beam radiation

During external beam radiation, beams of high-energy X-rays are delivered to the patient externally (from outside of their body). We offer many types of external beam radiation services, including:

Conformal radiation therapy (CRT)

This cancer treatment shapes the radiation beams to match the shape of the tumor. This treatment drastically reduces the amount of healthy tissue that is damaged during the process.

Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT)

This therapy is used to treat tumors in areas of the body that move, such as the lungs. Radiation therapy machines come with imaging technology that allows our radiation oncologists to capture an image of the tumor before and during treatment. By comparing these images to the reference images, your position and/or the radiation beams can be adjusted to more precisely target the radiation to the tumor.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)

IMRT technology uses linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation to a tumor while minimizing the radiation to surrounding healthy tissue.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)

SBRT uses a coordinate system to precisely pinpoint tumors in the body. This therapy uses high doses of radiation over a shorter period of time with optimal accuracy.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

This therapy uses an X-ray beam to shrink or control the growth of a tumor. It does this by either killing the cells directly or disrupting the cells' ability to grow.

State-of-the-art radiation oncology technology

We offer patients access to state-of-the-art technology that is designed to improve radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments, deliver increased precision and reduce side effects for patients.

This technology has unique capabilities that allows clinicians the ability to deliver more compact radiation doses that closely conform to the size, shape and location of tumors while sparing surrounding tissue. Treatments can be delivered relatively quickly, allowing our physicians to perform higher-quality radiosurgery for more patients.

askSarah (804) 591-4152 to speak with a nurse 24/7.