Radiation therapy in cancer treatment

Veterinarians can treat a tumour in several ways. The optimal therapy depends on the type of cancer. In addition to surgery, it is also possible to consider chemotherapy, hormone therapy or radiation therapy as performed at EQUINOX HEALTHCARE.
Often it makes sense to combine different treatment methods in order to defeat cancer. For example, veterinarians can initially remove the largest part of a tumour on the operating table and then irradiate the area to ensure that no malignant cells remain.

GENTLE AND PAINLESS
Radiation therapy is painless for your animal and only takes a few minutes. This is how the technique works: photon or electron radiation from the linear accelerator damages the genetic material of the cancer cells so that they die directly or are no longer able to reproduce. To ensure that healthy tissue is spared, our veterinarians direct the rays at the tumour with millimetre precision and carefully shield the surrounding area. Three-dimensional irradiation plans or custom-made metal shields are used for this purpose. To ensure that the animal lies still during radiation treatment, it is given a short anaesthesia.

Equipment

EVERYTHING IS ONE SIZE BIGGER
To irradiate an animal the size of a horse, a clinic must be specially equipped: The doors and tables must be significantly larger than in facilities for human patients or small animals. In addition to a crane used to transport the anaesthetised horse, padded recovery boxes are required in which equine patients can wake up with a minimum risk of injury.
EQUINOX HEALTHCARE, the oncological centre in Linsengericht, Hessen, has all this equipment available, as our facility is specially designed for horses.
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