In an effort to reach a greater audience, and help patients and their families understand their cancer treatment options, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology now offers Spanish versions of their popular brochures Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer and Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer.
ASTRO’s award-winning patient brochures are part of the public awareness campaign that the Society launched in 2003 to help patients learn more about their treatment options. Although nearly two-thirds of all people living with cancer will receive radiation therapy at some point during their treatment, it is the least understood of the three main cancer treatment modalities, behind surgery and chemotherapy. The new brochures join the growing catalog of patient materials ASTRO has to offer with several of the existing brochures slated for future Spanish translation.
“Trying to understand cancer and the treatments to cure it can be overwhelming for patients and their loved ones,” said Thomas J. Eichler, M.D., Chair of ASTRO’s Communications Committee and a radiation oncologist at CJW Medical Center at the Thomas Johns Cancer Center in Richmond, Va. “We hope that offering more Spanish language materials will help those grappling with cancer to make well-informed treatment decisions.”
The brochures are available free to patients and patient support organizations by visiting ASTRO’s patient-dedicated Web site http://www.rtanswers.org. The site also contains more detailed information and pictures explaining how radiation therapy is used to treat cancer and has a “Doctor Finder” feature allowing patients to search for a radiation oncologist by location and specialty.