Radiation Therapy for Beginners

Radiation is becoming widely available to treat tumors in veterinary patients. Orthovoltage machines capable of delivering low energy external beam radiation are less versatile than linear accelerators and cobalt-60 machines that deliver megavoltage radiation. In addition, electron beam capabilities that are available with some linear accelerators allow more targeted treatment in our smaller patients. With the increased availability of computerized treatment planning, and the delineation of the extent of the disease by CT and MRI, the benefi cial effects of radiation therapy are bound to increase substantially. The future of radiation therapy will be tied into the use of radiobiological and tumor biology information to enhance the benefi cial effects of radiation therapy. In addition, the combination of radiation therapy with surgery and chemotherapy may result in substantial improvement in the effi cacy of this treatment modality.