If you are undergoing or about to undergo radiotherapy (commonly known as phototherapy or electrotherapy) to the chest, such as lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors such as thymus, etc., then I hope the following information can help you! Please note that the procedures and steps are based on the clinical practice of the Department of Radiotherapy of the Cancer Hospital of Fudan University. (a) General information of radiotherapy: 1. Cooperation: Radiotherapy is a teamwork treatment. We need: (1) the hard cooperation of you and your family; (2) the professional opinion of the doctor; (3) the physicist to provide us with a precise implementation plan (as requested by the doctor); (4) professional technicians in both the general and CT simulator rooms in the preparation before radiotherapy to work with the doctor to precisely position you; (5) professional technicians in the gas pedal room are also responsible for accurate positioning for you in the daily irradiation to achieve precise (5) Professional technicians are also available in the accelerator room to accurately position your daily irradiation for precise radiotherapy. (2) Steps of radiotherapy: (1) Take 3D conformal radiotherapy or intensity modulated radiotherapy (which is an advanced precise radiotherapy technique to give enough radiotherapy dose to the tumor as much as possible while protecting normal tissues to minimize radiotherapy complications) as an example, radiotherapy generally requires the following steps: (1) CT positioning (conducted in the CT simulation room.) (2) The physician outlines the area to be radiated and the normal tissues to be protected. (3) The physiatrist completes a treatment plan that is approved by the physician. (4) Bed transfer (second positioning, performed in the general simulation room. (5) Validation film is taken (this is done in the machine room where the radiotherapy is officially started to ensure the correct position of the radiotherapy). (6) The verification film is approved by the doctor before starting radiotherapy (radiotherapy machine room). You may need to wait for about a week to complete all 6 steps, and the order of individual steps may vary or may be omitted depending on the condition. Steps (1), (4)-(6) all require patient participation, while steps (2) and (3) do not require the patient to come to the hospital, but are often the most time-consuming and difficult steps, depending on the difficulty of the plan; sometimes the physiatrist will have to do a dozen or more chances and consult with the physician for a plan that is acceptable to the physician; please be patient and wait in order to give you the best possible radiation treatment. It is well worth it. 3.Radiotherapy cycle: Radiotherapy can be a long period of time, usually 5-7 weeks for chest radiotherapy, so please arrange the time for you and your family. Most of the radiotherapy is once a day, 5 days a week (weekend off). It usually takes only a few minutes each time. 4. For outpatient radiotherapy (most of our patients are treated in the outpatient clinic), you will be given an appointment time (e.g. 4-5pm). Please come to the hospital during this time. The waiting + treatment time is usually 1 hour. (ii) Keep the marker lines on your body: By all means, please be sure to keep the marker lines (mostly black or red) drawn by your doctor on any part of your body clear. (iii) Diet during radiotherapy: 1. Western medicine is not as careful as Chinese medicine about the taboo of diet, but still need to pay attention in radiotherapy: try to eat soft and easily digestible food, because radiotherapy of the chest can damage the mucous membrane of the normal esophagus and cause the feeling of obstruction, pain, or foreign body feeling in the throat, etc. Decoction of water or tea of American ginseng and maple may help to reduce the symptoms. 2.If the main site of irradiation is the esophagus, you must pay more attention to your diet. In addition to eating soft, easily digestible food, avoid all rough, large, or sticky (such as dumplings, rice cakes, etc.) food to avoid food obstruction or esophageal perforation. You should also try to avoid hot food and stimulating food (such as orange, cinnamon, chili, etc.) during radiotherapy. 3.If your symptoms are so severe that it affects your eating or sleeping, please make sure to tell your doctor, as some medications can help relieve some of the discomfort. Even if you can’t swallow solid or semi-liquid food, you can make a thick soup of anything to ensure you get enough nutrition during treatment. receive treatment. (d) Skin care during radiotherapy: 1. Radiotherapy can cause damage to your skin, if the skin dose is not very high, the reaction is generally mild, mainly itching or mild pain, you can see the skin reddening and darkening within the radiotherapy area; serious skin damage occurs when the site you need to receive radiotherapy is close to the skin or on the surface of the skin and under the skin (mostly in the neck, supraclavicular area or chest wall/subcutaneous area), Serious skin damage occurs when the area to be treated is close to the skin or on the surface of the skin and under the skin (mostly in the neck, supraclavicular area or chest wall/axillary tumor to be irradiated), which may lead to small or large area of skin breakdown, and may lead to wound infection if not properly taken care of. 2. Loose and soft cotton clothing is recommended. If you need to take off your shirt when you undergo radiotherapy, please prepare several cardigans (from inside to outside) so that the preparation work before radiotherapy can be carried out quickly and orderly every day, saving time for you and other patients. 3.You can take a shower, but do not use irritating soap or rub or wipe the skin within the radiotherapy area to avoid further damage. 4.When you feel itchy skin or slight pain, do not use saline/hot water/compress, etc. Keeping the skin within the radiotherapy area dry and ventilated is the best way to reduce skin reaction, and if you feel cold due to exposure, you can use silk scarf to keep warm. 5.When ulceration occurs, do not cover the wound directly with gauze, napkin, etc. Because the treatment is more complicated and non-professionals cannot master the aseptic operation, it is highly recommended to go to the doctor immediately; in case of emergency or when you cannot find a doctor, you can sprinkle pearl powder that can be taken orally directly on the wound after cleaning it (be sure to pay attention to the cleanliness), and then find the doctor who will treat you as soon as possible. (E) Examination during radiotherapy: 1. Radiotherapy may cause mild to moderate decrease in white blood cells, hemoglobin (commonly known as hematocrit) and platelets (bone marrow hematopoietic function is inhibited) in some patients, so it is recommended that blood tests be repeated once a week so that the doctor can understand your current bone marrow hematopoietic situation. This will help your doctor and you to understand the changes in your esophagus after radiation therapy and to know if there are any precursors of esophageal ulcers or esophageal perforation. 3. Some patients may need to receive a second localization CT examination in the middle of the whole radiotherapy period (e.g., at about 20 irradiation sessions). If your lesion changes more significantly after radiotherapy (e.g., tumor shrinkage), your doctor may re-plan for you. (f) Activities during radiotherapy: 1. Radiotherapy may cause feelings of weakness in some patients, so it is recommended to rest more during radiotherapy and not to force yourself to move around, and physical exercise is not recommended during this period. 2. Radiotherapy may cause radiation pneumonia, which can occur during or several months after radiotherapy. Exposure to cold air is an important factor in triggering radiation pneumonia, so please make sure you keep warm and avoid catching a cold; when you go out in the cold season, pay attention to avoid letting your mouth/nose etc. come into direct contact with cold air, especially when the temperature suddenly drops. (vii) Please make sure to see your doctor once a week during radiotherapy. Any discomfort should be reported to the doctor who is treating you, who will provide more detailed advice according to your specific situation, and some discomfort can be alleviated to some extent by appropriate medication.