Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is sometimes called radiation therapy.  It is a method of treating cancer patients by using radiation.  Radiation consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that are energetic enough to knock off electrons from atoms or molecules to ionize them.  Examples of the subatomic particles include alpha particles, beta particles, electrons, protons, and neutrons.  Examples of electromagnetic waves include x-ray, gamma ray, and ultraviolet (UV).

Using the high energy beam, radiation therapy works mainly by ionizing the atoms in the DNA chain and prevent tumor cells from growing/replicating.  Most of the therapeutic effect is resulted from free radicals produced by radiation.  As most people know, chemotherapy could cause damages in normal tissues; the same thing will happen when a patient is treated by radiotherapy.  Fortunately, the good news is that there are significant improvements in today’s radiotherapy and the side effects are much fewer/lower.

Radiotherapy is used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, including cancer of the breast, brain, lung, liver, cervix, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, and uterus.  Radiotherapy has been used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment for many years.  Adjuvant therapy means auxiliary/additional treatment for cancer; it is usually given after surgery or in conjunction with chemotherapy.

To make it more efficient and with fewer/lower side effects, there are three types of agents can be used in conjunction with radiotherapy: radiosensitizers, radioprotectors, and radiomitigators.  We will talk about these agents shortly.

© Jiajiu Shaw, 2015

Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I am writing, "IS CANCER IN US", to be published in about two months.