Radiation Therapy

Learn more about how radiation therapy is used to treat cancer.

Overview

Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses X-rays to destroy cancer cells.

Radiation therapy may be used for any of the following reasons:

To cure cancer
To stop cancer from spreading and growing
To relieve painful symptoms

What to expect

Our Cancer care team will work with you to plan your treatment and determine if radiation therapy is right for you. Radiation therapy may also be combined with other treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy.

Combined treatments attack the cancer cells in more than one way and may be more effective than radiation alone.

Radiation therapy is administered in small amounts over the course of a few days or over several weeks. The type and amount of radiation treatment depends on your type of cancer.

If you require radiation therapy, you will be referred to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre radiation therapy clinic or another local centre that offers radiation therapy closer to you.

You will see a radiation oncologist who is a physician trained in the use of radiation to treat cancer. The radiation oncologist will work closely with our Cancer care team at Mount Sinai Hospital. 