Therapy: Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy
Definition
Radiation therapy uses high powered x-rays or radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells.
Alternative Names
Therapy - radiation; Radiotherapy
Information
Cancer cells usually multiply faster than other cells in the body. Because radiation is most harmful to rapidly growing cells, radiation therapy damages cancer cells more than normal cells. Specifically, radiation therapy damages the DNA of cancer cells. Doing so prevents the cancer cells from growing and dividing. Unfortunately, certain healthy cells can also be killed by this process. The death of healthy cells can lead to side effects.
Radiation therapy is used to fight many types of cancer. It is often used to shrink a tumor as much as possible before surgery. Radiation can also be given after surgery to prevent the cancer from coming back.
For certain types of cancer, radiation is the only treatment needed. Radiation treatment may also be used to provide temporary relief of symptoms, or to treat malignancies (cancers) that cannot be removed with surgery.
There are two forms of radiation therapy:
The following are some commonly used radioactive substances:
Radiation therapy can have many side effects. These side effects depend on the part of the body receiving radiation, the dose of radiation, and how often you have the therapy.
