|The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania|
Bone marrow is a soft sponge-like material inside your bones. It
contains the master cells (stem cells) that make up the blood
cells that: help fight infection (white blood cells); carry
oxygen through the body (red blood cells); and protect you from
bleeding (platelets). Computed tomography (CT) uses X-rays to
make detailed pictures of structures inside of the body. It does
this by creating cross-sectional pictures of the body.
Conventional radiation treatment is external radiation. External
radiation (or external beam radiation) comes from a machine
outside the body. The machine directs high-energy rays at the
cancer and some normal surrounding tissue. It is the most often
used radiation treatment. The machine used to deliver the high-
energy rays is called a linear accelerator. General anesthesia
is the delivery of medicine to prevent the patient from feeling
pain during radiation treatment. It is used to temporarily put
the patient into a deep