About radiotherapy for anal cancer

Radiotherapy uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. You can't feel radiotherapy when you have it. But radiotherapy treatment given over a few weeks will usually have some side effects.

External radiotherapy means radiotherapy beamed from the outside of your body. Internal radiotherapy means radioactive material is placed next to the tumour, inside the body. You may have either of these types of treatment, or a combination of both, for anal cancer.

You may have radiotherapy for anal cancer

• To get rid of the cancer - this is usually in combination with chemotherapy
• To shrink a tumour to make it easier to remove completely
• To control the cancer and relieve symptoms it may be causing

You may have radiotherapy with chemotherapy as your main treatment. We know from research that this is as good as surgery for certain stages of anal cancer. You can find out more about this treatment in our section about chemoradiation for anal cancer.

You may have radiotherapy to relieve symptoms of advanced anal cancer. This is also called palliative radiotherapy.

The cancer may be blocking the bowel and causing pain and discharge from the back passage. Radiotherapy can shrink the cancer for a time and may help relieve symptoms. You usually have a short course of daily treatments, for a few days.

The radiotherapy section of CancerHelp UK tells you more about this type of treatment, including

• What radiotherapy treatment involves
• How your radiotherapy treatment is planned
• Possible side effects

And there are books and booklets about radiotherapy, some of which are free. Look at our bowel cancer reading list or contact one of the bowel cancer organisations that produce information. You can also contact our cancer information nurses. They would be happy to help.