High-tech with heart
Radiation therapy in cancer treatment
A tumor can be treated in several ways. The optimal therapy depends on the type of cancer.In addition to surgery, options include chemotherapy, hormone therapy or radiotherapy, which we use. It often helps to combine different treatment methods to achieve the best result: If a tumor can only be removed with small margins, adjuvant radiation therapy is usually indicated to prevent recurrence. Read more about this in our article "How does radiotherapy work in animals".
GENTLE & PAINLESS
Radiotherapy is not painful for your pet and only takes a few minutes. This is how the technology works: The photon or electron radiation from the linear accelerator damages the genetic material of the cancer cells so that they enter a programmed cell death during one of the next cell divisions. To ensure that healthy tissue is spared as much as possible, we aim the radiation at the tumor with millimetre precision and carefully shield the surrounding area. A three-dimensional radiation plan or custom-made shields are used for this. A short anesthetic is necessary so that the animal is not stressed and can be positioned calmly and precisely. The anesthesia can be very superficial because the radiation therapy itself does not cause any pain.
Everything one size bigger
A clinic must be specially equipped to irradiate a horse: The doors and tables must be significantly larger than in facilities for humans or small animals. In addition to a crane for transporting the anaesthetized horse, padded recovery boxes are required in which the large patients can stand up again with minimal risk of injury. We are prepared for patients of all sizes: From rabbits to cold-blooded horses!
Radiotherapy for horses
