- Reference Number: HEY1083/2026
- Departments: Gynaecology, Radiotherapy
- Last Updated: 28 February 2026
Introduction
This leaflet has been produced to give you general information about external beam radiotherapy to the female pelvis (including cervix, womb, vagina and vulva), in addition to the information you will receive from your Clinical Oncologist. Most of your questions should be answered by this leaflet. It is not intended to replace the discussion between you and your healthcare team, but may act as a starting point for discussion. If, after reading it, you have any concerns or require further explanation, please discuss this with a member of your healthcare team.
What is radiotherapy?
Radiotherapy is the use of high-energy X-rays to treat cancer. Radiotherapy works by causing chemical and physical damage to the cancer cells in the treatment area. During radiotherapy, some normal healthy cells are affected; these are able to recover and repair themselves over time.
Radiotherapy can be used for a number of different intended benefits. For example, radiotherapy can be used as a curative form of treatment following surgery, in combination with chemotherapy, brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy), or used as symptom control. Radiotherapy does not make you radioactive, and you are safe to be around all people, including children, whilst you are on treatment.
The clinical oncologist/therapeutic consultant radiographer looking after you will have already discussed the type of treatment(s) you will be having, the risks and side-effects and will have gained your written consent to proceed with your radiotherapy treatment.
There are several stages prior to you actually commencing your radiotherapy treatment.
The areas being treated
These diagrams may be useful to help you understand where your cancer is and the area to be treated with radiotherapy. It may also explain why we may request that you have a full bladder for your radiotherapy planning scan and radiotherapy treatment.
Planning your treatment
Your first appointment in the radiotherapy department will be a planning appointment. This appointment will be approximately 45 minutes to one hour in duration. A member of the radiotherapy team will speak to you before any procedure is carried out to obtain your consent for this planning process. They will discuss the possible side effects of treatment, how to minimise and manage them. This is also another opportunity for you to ask questions or raise any concerns you may have.
For the scan, you may be required to have an injection of a contrast dye. This involves inserting a cannula (a small, thin tube) into a vein in your hand or arm. Please tell your specialist team before your scan if you have poor veins.
For the planning scan and treatment thereafter, you may be asked to achieve a comfortably full bladder and an empty rectum (back passage). This is to ensure your internal organs are in a similar place for each treatment and minimise side effects. A full explanation of bowel and bladder preparation will be given before and at your planning appointment. You will be advised how to fill your bladder and to keep hydrated before, during and after treatment, aiming to drink 2 litres of fluid a day. It is recommended that you eat normally and regularly. To ensure an empty back passage, avoid missing meals/fasting, as this can cause the bowel to slow down and create excess gas, delaying the delivery of treatment. You may be advised to take laxatives before your planning scan and during treatment. If your rectum isn’t empty on the day of your scan, you may be advised to have an enema. If you decline or the enema isn’t effective, you may be asked to return another day.
A specialist X-ray machine called a CT (Computed Tomography) scanner will be used as part of the planning process. This machine enables us to obtain images of the area of interest whilst you lie on the CT couch (Fig 2).
Fig 2: CT scanner
Image from Radiotherapy Department Patient Information
In the CT room, you will be asked to loosen or remove your clothing only in the area of interest (i.e. the lower body), and then you will be helped into the correct position on the couch. If your tumour involves the skin, you may require a sheet of gel-like material to be placed over the area. You may be asked to raise your arms comfortably above your head. A beanbag-like device will be used to help support your arms in a comfortable position for the scan and each treatment. The radiographers will leave the room to perform the scan. You will move slowly backwards and forwards through the hole of the machine, and you will not feel anything at all from the scanner.
If you are having contrast dye you may experience a metallic taste and/or a feeling of warmth at your pelvic area during infusion. This will resolve when the infusion has completed. If you experience any discomfort at the site of insertion during infusion, please tell a member of staff immediately.
The information obtained from this scan is used to produce your individual treatment plan. If other scans are required to help with making your treatment (e.g. MRI), your oncologist/consultant therapeutic radiographer will discuss this with you. The CT staff will confirm your treatment start date before you leave the department.
What happens on your first day?
On your first day, and each day afterwards, when you attend, please book in at the radiotherapy reception desk. You will be asked to take a seat either in the main waiting area or you will be directed to a specific waiting area.
If you had to achieve a comfortably full bladder and an empty rectum for your planning scan, you will need to repeat this for all of your radiotherapy treatments. On some occasions, you may be asked to drink more water, partially/fully empty the bladder, and/or release some gas or stool. We appreciate that the requirements can be frustrating, but they ensure accuracy of treatment delivery and minimise side effects, both short and long-term.
What happens during treatment?
Radiotherapy is painless and usually takes 10 – 15 minutes to deliver, by a machine called a Linear Accelerator (Fig 3) or Linac, for short. You may be in the department longer to prepare your bladder and bowels.
A member of staff will escort you into a side room within the treatment area to remove any clothing required for treatment, and to perform an ultrasound scan of your bladder – a quick, painless test that involves applying some cold gel on your lower stomach, and moving a handheld scanner over the area to measure the amount of urine in your bladder (can be seen on Fig 2).
Fig 3: Linear Accelerator (Linac)
Image from Radiotherapy Department Patient Information
The radiographers will then assist you into the correct treatment position on the couch. This will be the same position you were in for your CT planning appointment. The radiographers will then move the Linac into position, ready for treatment. The radiographers are controlling the Linac at all times, and the machine may seem close to you, but it will not touch you. Once you are set up in the correct position, the radiographers will let you know that they are leaving the room and then leave for a few minutes to commence treatment.
The machine is being controlled by the staff outside in the control area and will rotate around you in different directions. The radiographers are watching you at all times on the TV monitors, and should you feel you want to stop the treatment at any time, just wave to attract their attention. The machine will stop, and the radiographers will come back into the room. You will not feel or see anything during your treatment; however, you may hear a buzzing sound when the treatment is being delivered.
Throughout your treatments, a radiographer will ask regularly how you are managing with the treatment and if you have any side effects. The radiographers are trained to offer advice on side-effect management. There may be occasions when you express concerns that need more specialist advice. In which case, you may be advised to request a review by a radiotherapy nurse specialist.
If you are unwell and your symptoms relate to treatment, we ask you to call the radiotherapy nursing team or the Queen’s Centre acute assessment unit before attending for treatment, in case alternative arrangements are needed. You will be required to leave an answerphone message including your personal details and a brief description of your symptoms, and a member of the team will call you back. This is particularly important if you are receiving systemic anti-cancer treatment as well as radiotherapy. If you have collapsed or are experiencing any difficulty breathing and/or chest pains, please call 999.
If you are to receive Brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy treatment) after your external beam radiotherapy, your consultant will have already discussed this with you and gained your consent. The Brachytherapy team will meet with you towards the end of your external beam radiotherapy and go through the brachytherapy treatment, its possible side effects, and how we can help you. This is also another opportunity for you to ask questions or raise any concerns you may have. For more information, refer to the ‘Vaginal Brachytherapy’ and ‘Intrauterine Brachytherapy’ patient information leaflets.
Side effects
You can find information about possible side effects of your treatment on your consent form. It outlines both short-term (acute) and long-term effects that may occur.
Alternatively, you can access information and advice via the Macmillan Website or Macmillan Information booklets, which can be found in your radiotherapy department or Macmillan information centre, located within the hospital you are attending. Contact details for Macmillan can be found in the Advice and Support Services section of this leaflet.
As you go through your treatment, you may notice some side effects or reactions — everyone’s experience is different, and symptoms can vary in timing and intensity.This is a normal and temporary part of the treatment process, so please try not to worry. If you do experience side effects or your symptoms change, please speak to the radiographers or a member of the support team. They can offer advice, suggest ways to help manage your symptoms, and arrange interventions if needed.
Post Radiotherapy Treatment
Once you have completed your course of radiotherapy treatment, you will receive a follow-up appointment. This appointment will be sent to you in the post or via your NHS app for you to see your clinical oncologist or consultant radiographer again at the hospital where you were first seen. This is usually around 6 weeks after treatment has finished, to allow any side effects experienced to abate. Your clinical oncologist or consultant radiographer will then decide if any further tests, scans or appointments are necessary.
Radiotherapy Staff
Clinical Oncologist, Registrar, Consultant Therapeutic Radiographers
They are experts in radiotherapy and will be managing your treatment. They will take the responsibility for deciding what dose and how many treatments will be best for you; they will oversee the planning of your treatment. You may see them or a member of their team at your initial planning appointment, and you can see them during your treatment if you have any problems or queries.
Therapeutic Radiographers
Radiotherapy is delivered by male and female therapeutic radiographers who are specialist healthcare professionals trained to plan and deliver radiotherapy treatment and to use the specialist equipment. You will usually see the same team of radiographers, and they will assist you with any questions or problems or refer you to a more appropriate person.
Radiotherapy Support Team
The team consists of clinical nurse specialists and clinical support workers (CSWs), who are based within the Radiotherapy Department where they provide specialised care, actively support, and advise patients before, during and after radiotherapy treatment.
Physicists, Planning Dosimetrists and Machine Technicians
Medical physicists are specialist scientists who have a key role in the individual planning of your treatment, along with the planning technicians. They may also have an input into the arrangement of your treatment. They work together with the machine technicians to ensure that the machines are reliable and working accurately.
Students
At some point during your treatment, you may encounter student radiographers. Everything they do is supervised fully. If you would prefer our students not to be present during the planning and treatment, please let a member of staff know when you attend for your initial planning appointment.
Other members of staff
During your course of treatment you may meet our receptionists, porters, volunteer workers. All are working together to provide you with a high quality of healthcare.
Research
The Trust is research-active with a research strategy that includes cancer treatment and care. The radiotherapy department participates in national and international research studies to improve treatments to make them safer, more effective, and reduce side effects. We also develop patient-centred local research to improve your radiotherapy experience to benefit you and your family. We would like to encourage you to provide feedback about your experiences and ideas to help us research the areas that are important to you. Your treatment will not be affected in any way should you not want to take part.
Advice and Support Services
Please read the information leaflet. Share the information it contains with your partner and family (if you wish) so that they can be of help and support. There may be information they need to know, especially if they are taking care of you following this treatment.
Radiotherapy Information and Support Team
Should you require further advice on the information contained in this leaflet, please do not hesitate to contact the Radiotherapy Information and Support Team on Tel: 01482 461206
Email: hyp-tr.radiotherapy.information@nhs.net
Alternatively, contact your specialist nursing team on telephone numbers:
Hull – Tel: 01482 624033
Grimsby – Tel: 03033 303590
Scunthorpe – Tel : 03033 305904
York/Scarborough – Tel : 01723 385290
Radiotherapy Booking Office
If you need to speak to a member of staff regarding your appointments, please contact the Radiotherapy Booking Office on Tel: 01482 461187 / Tel: 01482 461188 / Tel: 01482 461189
Cancer Psychological Service
The primary aim of our psychological service is to support patients with emotional and psychological well-being during and after oncological and haematological treatment. The service is located in the Queen’s Centre at Castle Hill Hospital, HU16 5JQ.
Contact times are Monday – Friday, 8.00 am – 4.00 pm.
Tel: 01482 461060 or Tel: 01482 461061
Macmillan Cancer Support
Aim to provide expert information and advice on all aspects of cancer and its treatment, and on the practical and emotional aspects of living with cancer.
The Macmillan Cancer Information Centre at the Queen’s Centre is open Monday – Thursday 8.00 am – 6.00 pm. You can drop in or call on 01482 461154
For Scunthorpe and Grimsby, their opening hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – opening hours are subject to change.
Alternatively, to speak to a Macmillan advisor, call the free national help line: Tel: 0808 808 0000, available 7 days a week, 8.00 am – 8.00 pm
Online: http://www.macmillan.org.uk
PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)
Provide confidential advice and support, helping you resolve any concerns you have about the service you have received.
Tel: 01482 623065 – Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Email: hyp-tr.pals.mailbox@nhs.net