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Time between simulation and starting radiation treatment for prostate?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Mar 23 3:13pm | Replies (11)Comment receiving replies
Not sure what you mean by simulation. I’ve never heard of somebody having a simulated radiation treatment before the real thing. In my case, my doctor wanted an MRI after the PSMA pet scan showed where the metastasis was. The MRI allowed them to more closely, identify where the SBRT radiation treatment should be targeted. When I had salvage radiation 12 years ago, they definitely was no simulation, they just needed to mark me with a couple of Tattoo dots so they could radiate the proper areas.
So what do you mean by simulation?
If you’re going to wait that long to have treatment, you should probably be on ADT To stop the cancer from growing and reducing in. Has that been discussed with your Radiation oncologist?
Replies to "Not sure what you mean by simulation. I’ve never heard of somebody having a simulated radiation..."
@jeffmarc, as others have mentioned, a radiation simulation appointment is the appointment to set up the radiation treatment. During simulation, your radiation therapy team will help you find a comfortable position. You must lie still during treatment, so being comfortable is important.
You'll lie down on the same type of table that will be used during your treatment. Cushions and props will help hold you in the right placement. Next, the radiation therapy team marks the place on the body that will get the radiation. This might be done with a marker or with small permanent tattoos.
@johnw22, sometimes the time between simulation and actual treatment begin will be short (a few days) or longer, as in your situation, (a few weeks). This is likely due to scheduling of the equipment and number of patients. The simulation will not have to be repeated. What type of radiation will you have?
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I had a simulation prior to proton therapy. They used a CT to develop an imobilization cradle to keep you comfortably in the same position for each treatment, map fudicial markers, verify positioning of prostate to everything around it when the bladder is full, aid in planning beam angles to effectiely reach every part of the prostate, tatoo reference points on the abdomen to help with positioning of the gantry and provide the physicists a 3d scan to review the angles and amount of radiation that will hit each portion of the prostate and tissue in close proximity.
I'm not sure, but waiting doesn't seem like it would impact very much, unless there was significant weight gain/loss which might change the position of body relative to the precalculated angles. That's a great question for your RO team. Wishing you all the best on your treatment and outcome!
Bill