Patient Guides
Your doctor has proposed a treatment.Here's what it involves.
When you're facing a treatment for the first time, the words can be confusing. These guides explain each one in plain language — what the treatment actually does, what you need to do before, what the day itself feels like, and how to look after yourself and your family afterwards. Written for you and your family, not for doctors.
Important: these guides are educational. They do not replace the specific advice of your care team — the oncologist, nuclear-medicine physician, surgeon, radiation oncologist, radiotherapist and nurse who know your medical history and imaging. Always follow their instructions in preference to anything on these pages.
Six guides
Pick the treatment you're facing
Lu-177 Therapy
A newer cancer treatment for certain hormone-producing tumours (in the intestine and pancreas) and for prostate cancer that has spread. A radioactive medicine is given as a drip; it travels to the cancer and treats it from inside. Covers the treatment day, how to prepare, and how to protect your family for the first week.
Written for: Adults with certain neuroendocrine tumours or advanced prostate cancer
Read the guideRadioactive Iodine (I-131) Treatment
Treatment for an overactive thyroid or for thyroid cancer after surgery. You swallow a capsule; the iodine travels to your thyroid and treats it there. Covers the diet you follow before, the treatment day, and how to protect your family for the first week.
Written for: Adults with an overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer
Read the guideSentinel Lymph-Node Biopsy
A smaller cancer operation. Instead of removing many lymph nodes to check for spread, the surgeon uses a small probe to find and remove just the one node most likely to be affected. Used in breast cancer, melanoma, and some gynaecological + head-and-neck cancers.
Written for: Cancer patients whose surgeon is checking lymph nodes for spread
Read the guideGold Marker for Radiotherapy
A tiny gold marker placed inside your tumour before radiotherapy starts. It acts like a target, so the treatment beams stay aimed exactly at your tumour across your 30 or 40 daily sessions. Placement is a short outpatient procedure — usually with local anaesthetic.
Written for: Patients about to start image-guided radiotherapy
Read the guideRadiotherapy Mask (Head + Neck)
A custom-shaped mesh mask made just for you. It clips to the treatment table so your head stays in the same position every day — helping the radiation hit your tumour precisely. Covers what the mask fitting feels like, what each session is like, and how to manage side effects over the 6 to 7 week course.
Written for: Patients starting a 6-7 week course of head or neck radiotherapy
Read the guideNuclear Medicine Scan
A common type of scan — used for bone scans, heart scans, thyroid scans, kidney scans and more. You get a small injection of a mildly radioactive tracer, then a camera takes pictures. Covers what to eat / not eat before, what the day feels like, and simple do's and don'ts for that evening.
Written for: Adults booked for a nuclear medicine scan
Read the guideHow each guide is organised
Same structure, so you know where to find what you need
1 · What is it?
Plain-English explanation of the treatment or procedure — what it actually does inside your body, and how it differs from chemotherapy / external radiotherapy / surgery that you may know.
2 · Who receives it
The clinical indications — the conditions the treatment is used for, and how patients are selected. Helps you understand where you fit.
3 · How to prepare
The days or weeks before — dietary preparation, medicines to stop or continue, what to bring to the appointment, what to tell the team.
4 · The day itself
Step-by-step through arrival, the procedure or treatment, monitoring and discharge. So there are no surprises on the day.
5 · After-care + precautions
For radionuclide treatments (Lu-177, I-131): radiation-safety instructions for your family for the first few days. For surgery: wound care. For radiotherapy: side-effect management. What to call the team about.
6 · Questions to ask your care team
A short list of questions worth taking to your consultation. You will be given a lot of information at once — a written list helps ensure the things that matter to you get answered.
Who wrote these guides
Written by a medical-supply team who has been alongside Indian oncology for 40 years.
Saxsons Group supplies radiopharmaceuticals, radiotherapy accessories and surgical-oncology instruments to over 1,000 Indian hospitals. These patient guides are written so a family member can prepare their loved one for a treatment before it happens — from the vocabulary the oncologist used to the specific things worth asking. They are not a substitute for talking to your care team. They are a way to walk into that conversation better prepared.