Cancer patients receiving radiation therapy are often concerned that the treatment will make them radioactive. The answer to this question depends on the type of radiation therapy being given.
External radiation therapy will not make the person radioactive. You do not need to avoid being around other people because of the treatment.
Internal radiation therapy that involves sealed implants emits radioactivity, so a stay in the hospital may be needed. Certain precautions are taken to protect hospital staff and visitors. The sealed sources deliver most of their radiation mainly around the area of the implant, so while the area around the implant is radioactive, the person's whole body is not radioactive.
Systemic radiation therapy uses unsealed radioactive materials that travel throughout the body. Some of this radioactive material will leave the body through saliva, sweat, and urine before the radioactivity decays, making these fluids radioactive. Therefore, certain precautions are sometimes used for people who come in close contact with the person. The doctor or nurse will provide information if these special precautions are needed.
The Radiation Treatment Team
Many health care providers help to plan and deliver radiation treatment to the patient. The radiation therapy team includes the surgeon, radiologist (a doctor who specializes in creating and interpreting pictures of areas inside the body), pathologist (a doctor who identifies diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope), and others to plan the patient's total course of therapy.
Because there are so many types of radiation and many ways to deliver it, treatment planning is a very important first step for every patient who will have radiation therapy. Before radiation therapy is given, the patient's radiation therapy team determines the amount and type of radiation the patient will receive.
The National Cancer Institute which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.