PART II
Chapter 1
Introduction
Radiotherapy is also referred to as
radiation therapy. Radiotherapy deals
with the treatment of cancer and it should not be confused with radiology,
which deals with the study and application of radiation as a diagnostic tool.
Radiotherapy is a method of treating
cancer patients by using ionizing radiation, which consists of either subatomic
particles or electromagnetic waves that are energetic enough to knock off
electrons from atoms or molecules to ionize them. Ionizing radiation comes from
two sources shown below:
(1) Radiation is emitted by
radioactive substances including cobalt, cesium, radium, uranium, radon, and
plutonium;
(2) Radiation is produced by medical
devices such as an x-ray machine.
Examples of ionizing particles
include a particles, b particles (electrons), protons, and
neutrons; examples of electromagnetic waves include x-ray, gamma ray, and
ultraviolet (UV).
Radiotherapy can be
used to treat almost every type of solid tumor locally, including cancers of
the breast, brain, lung, liver, cervix, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, and
uterus. It can also be used to treat leukemia (cancer of blood-forming cells)
and lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system, which is an important part of the
immune system). In some cases, patients may
receive a total body irradiation (TBI) for certain cancer, such as acute leukemia,
as a pivotal part of bone marrow transplantation.
© Jiajiu Shaw, 2020
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, "SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIOTHERAPY", prepared by Dr. Jiajiu Shaw, Dr. Frederick Valeriote, and Dr. Ben Chen.
