Radiation therapy is a treatment method chosen for some cancer patients to help damage or kill cancer cells so that they are no longer able to spread in the body. Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, uses the same type of radiation used in X-rays but in much larger amounts. Not only can radiation therapy be used to fight against cancer cells, but it also aids in cancer related conditions such as bladder control or pain.
Cancer cells have the ability to reproduce much faster than normal body cells. Radiation works to target and divide these cells before they have the chance to future reproduce and spread to other areas of the body. Cancer cells are unable to repair themselves as easily as normal cells, and therefore are effectively killed by radiation.
Radiation therapy can be given to patients by local treatments, externally or internally. External radiation therapy is typically an outpatient hospital visit that can be performed daily if needed. A radiation machine is set outside the body and geared towards the area where the cancer resides.
Internal radiation therapy consists of medicated pills, drinking the radiation in liquid form or an intravenous drip. Internal radiation usually calls for an overnight stay in the hospital. Radiation therapy can also be given by branchytherapy. Branchytherapy is small amounts of radioactive fluid injected directly into the tumor. Each type of radiation can be time-consuming and do not work for every patient.
Doctors have limited the damage to healthy tissue during radiation by:
* Closely targeting the radiation to direct cancer areas
* Separating treatments into several smaller sessions
* Maintaining equipment for the most efficient treatments.
* Using minimum radiation doses during treatments
Radiation therapy can be used to treat solid localized tumors such as ones that appear on the head, skin, brain, prostate or cervix. It can also be used to treat lymphoma and leukemia. Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer and can be used for various types including cancers of the lung, head, bladder, neck and Hodgkin disease.
Your physician or radiation oncologist who have attended radiation therapy schools will determine the amount of radiation needed for your specific illness considering several factors such as where the tumor is located and its severity. The treatment may be only several treatments or may last as long as ten weeks. Each session takes only 30 to 40 minutes to complete while the radiation itself only lasts a few minutes. To fully benefit from radiation therapy, no sessions should be skipped.
The following above guest article was contributed by Richard Hemby who frequently writes about radiation therapy schools and other health career topics.