Most of us are familiar with the use of radiation in X-rays. In much higher doses it can be effective in treating certain cancers by damaging and in some cases completely destroying the cancerous tissue. It also has an important role in palliative care, as it can help to relieve some symptoms of cancer such as pain and bleeding.
The aim of curative radiotherapy treatment is to direct a very carefully measured dose of radiation to the area of the tumour and thereby to kill off the cancerous cells. The dose needs to be high enough to shrink the tumour but not so high that it also damages the surrounding normal, healthy tissue, which may be affected in the short term but should be able to repair itself in time. Some cancers respond very well to radiotherapy, and in some cases it may be sufficient to effect a cure.
Radiotherapy may also be used to shrink a tumour prior to an operation to surgically remove it, the aim being to make the surgeon’s job more straightforward. It has an important role, too, in cancers where surgery would not be possible.
There are two basic types of radiotherapy: external and internal. In neither type will you become permanently radioactive and, in the external type, you will not actually be in contact with radioactivity at any point.
It is most common for radiotherapy to be administered externally, by directing radiation at the tumour site using a radiotherapy machine, which looks very much like an X-ray machine. However, for some cancers radiotherapy is given internally, by temporarily placing a radioactive source either in or next to the tumour. Sometimes, it may be given in the form of a radioactive drink.
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