Radiation and Chemotherapy

In rare cases in which certain types of cancer do not respond to chemotherapy alone, physicians may use a combination of chemotherapy and internal radiation therapy. The delivery of the chemical and radioactive agents to the tumor is guided by nuclear medicine imaging.

The patient is injected with a low dose of radioactive material that has been chemically tagged to collect in a particular organ. A special camera that detects gamma rays provides images to confirm that the radioactive material is going to the target site.

Then a higher energy radioactive material combined with a powerful chemotherapy drug is injected to attack the cancer.