Is Radiation Therapy Ever Given Twice In One Day?

— -- Question: Is radiation therapy ever given more than once a day?

Answer: In general, no. Radiation therapy is given early. We would like to shorten the overall course of treatment. And people have experimented with giving single treatments each day, but giving more radiation each treatment, to see if we can get these six weeks down to five weeks, or even four weeks or less. And some of the clinical studies that have been done in this regard, are quite encouraging. One from Canada suggesting that a little over three and a half weeks of treatment, with once a day treatment with each treatment being a little bigger, was just as good. Their results are five years long. We're interested in seeing what happens as we get out to eight and ten years. And, if those results still hold, I think you will see the course of radiation shorten down. Not by coming more than once a day, but by getting a little more with each treatment, and shortening the overall course of treatment.

Next: Will Radiation Treatment Burn My Skin?

Previous: If I Have Radiation Therapy Once to a Breast, Can I Ever Get It Again to the Same Breast?