My husband and I were told he would have 35 radation treatments from our oncologist before he started treatment. Yesterday I went to treatment with my husband and we were talking and the doctor happened to mention he only had 9 treatments left. He was on #21 plus the 9 would mke it a total of 30. When we ? it the doc just said no he is only having 30 tratments. At first we were happy that he only had 9 treatments left. After I got home and thought about it, I dont ever remember anyone here saying they only had 30 treatments. I am happy its almost over for him, but I want to be sure we are doing all we can to keep him healthy. Has anyone ever had only 30 treatments of radiation. My husband had 2/3 of his tounge removed and a radical neck dissection. They found one micro cell in one lymph node. I know everyone is different, I was just woundering if anyone else had so few treatments.

I had 33 myself. Typically oral cancers are treated for 6 weeks. It's all about the amount of radiation in the fractional or daily dose. I am sure he will still receive the maximum lifetime dose rate. Ask the doctor what the total treatment plan is -it should be around 6700gy

Just checking in to say they hit me with 37.

Joanna

I think the number of treatments varies a great deal depending on the position, size and stage of the tumors and the age of the patients counts too. Some may receive more (I heard some get 60!) and some get less (under 30).I was originally arranged for 42 rounds but then extended to 48 towards the last week of original treatment. I also read books that the maximum dose can be about 7000(don't know the unit for it). Not sure if it is correct or not.

Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.

It is 7000 gy total. It shouldn't exceed 6700 gy through structures, like the teeth to prevent osteoradionecrosis for example.I don't think that amount of treatments is as important as the fractional dose rate.

for me, the dropped the number of treatments as i went through them. when they saw that i was tolerating things better than first thought, they increased the dosage and then cut back the total number of treatments.

Thanks everyone for the info. It really helps me to hear from all of you. I dont feel like we are alone in this. The things that are happening to my husband are happening to others. Well today they changed his treatment using electrons instead of protons. This was explained so they would not be hitting the spine any more it would stop before it got there. Anyway his treatment time went from about five min. to 25 min on the table. Maybe this is why the # of treatments changed. Who knows, sometimes I fell soooooooooo stupid because I dont understand it all. WE have learned a lot but I still feel lost.

Doctors, from their multiple collective experiences, have developed a standard of exposure for patients with different types of cancers which are at different stages. Obviously, a lower stage cancer may require less radiation, or radiation in a different size field, than something more advanced and less localized. They do know the pattern of growth of oral cancers quite well. Each patient is radiated differently, though they know what usually is effective for a particular tumor, at a particular stage, in a particular location. This is an interesting aspect of IMRT treatment that as is just emerging in the treatment of OC. It is a misconception to think that IMRT treatment targets just the tumor, and spares the surrounding tissues. As they "paint " an affected area with radiation, they must also now paint/radiate the areas of most likely cellular metastasis, which may not show up on scans. They must determine within these areas how much radiation it will require to affect the tumor, and how much to

Brian, thanks for all your info, and this fourm! I feel a lot better about everything today. If it wasnt for this fourm I would be letting my mind go wild. It really is nice to have a place to go to get your ? answered.
Thanks again!!!
Cheryl