RapidArc radiotherapy: what to know

RapidArc is a form of intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Before treatment, the team uses scans to map the target and nearby organs. A computer helps shape and vary the beam as the gantry moves around the body, allowing the plan to direct radiation toward the treatment area while limiting exposure to surrounding tissue as far as the plan permits.

It may be used for selected cancers including Basal Cell Carcinoma, Brain Tumour, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Bowel Cancer, Womb Cancer, Glioblastoma, and Head and Neck Cancer. Suitability depends on the tumour’s site, size, previous treatment, and the person’s overall plan.

Planning may include an imaging appointment, positioning supports, and marks or a mould to help you lie in the same position. During each treatment, you remain still while the machine moves around you; the radiation itself is not felt. The appointment includes setup as well as delivery, and the radiographers can communicate with you throughout.

Possible effects depend on the treated area and dose. Skin irritation, tiredness, hair loss in the treatment field, or effects involving a nearby organ may occur. Ask how to care for the treated skin, whether to continue usual products, and when side effects may appear.

Contact the radiotherapy team promptly for severe or rapidly worsening skin reaction, inability to drink, repeated vomiting, new breathing difficulty, marked swelling, fever, or pain that is not controlled by the agreed plan. For brain treatment, urgent assessment is needed for a first seizure, sudden weakness, new confusion, or severe headache with vomiting.

Ask why RapidArc is being recommended, what area will be treated, how positioning will be checked, and how many visits are planned. Ask which side effects are likely for your treatment site, what self-care is safe, who to call outside appointments, and how the plan fits with surgery or other cancer treatment.