Radiation therapy definition, types, usage, how works, types of camcer it treats, risk, expectations

 

Definition

Radiation therapy is a kind of therapy which is used for the treatment of cancer to destroy the cancer cells. This therapy used high power X-ray. Also protons and other kinds of energy are also used. A specialist who is known as oncologist, provides you the therapy followed by your cancer type. The oncologist will examine if the therapy would be effective for you. Also, the oncologist will also design a treatment plan for you. In this therapy, it is tried best to protect the other cells around the cancer affected cells.

Types

External beam radiation: It is the most common and used method for the treatment of cancer. IN this therapy, your health care provider sets a machine outside of your body. The radiations come from the machine, enter in your body to reach to the cancer affected cells. Teletherapy is another name of this type.

Internal radiation therapy: Internal radiation therapy, which is the second most used therapy behind external beam radiation, also known as brachytherapy. In this therapy, the doctor keeps an implant which contains radiation near or in your cancer attacked cells. The implant appears in several shapes: wire, seeds, capsule, tube etc.

Systemic radiation therapy: This is another type of internal radiation therapy. In this therapy, the patient needs to swallow a substance which is radioactive. Then the radioactive substance visits around the patients’ body to find the cancer affected cells and destroy them. In another way, a radioactive substance is injected into the patients’ vein.

Why radiation therapy is used

Radiation therapy mainly destroys cancer cells. It also alleviates cancer symptoms, shrinks tumors. This therapy is not only used for cancer treatment but also used for killing those cancer cells which remain after surgery, killing cells which come back after treatment, shrinking tumor before other cancer treatments.

What types of cancer it treats

External beam radiation is used for the treatment of:

• Lung cancer 
• Colon cancer 
• Head or neck cancer
• Breast cancer 
• Prostate cancer

Brachytherapy is used for the cancer of:

• Uterus 
• Rectum 
• Vagina 
• Cervix 
• Head and neck
• Eye
• Brain
• Bladder
• Skin
• Lung
• Esophagus
• Anus
• Prostate
• Breast
  

How it works

Radiation therapy destroys the cancer cells or makes the growth of the cancer cells which grow faster than normal cells. This therapy damages the DNA of the cancer affected cells. When the cells are dead, your body removes the cells. The radiation enters in a specific part of your body. And then start working. The working of process of external beam radiation and brachytherapy are same as they are local therapies. The main difference between these therapies is the radiation source. In external beam radiation therapy, radiation comes from a device whereas in brachytherapy, the radiation comes from an implant which is placed in your body near or in the tumor.

Risk

Radiation therapy side effects or risk relies on how much radiation is used for treatment and which part of your body is being treated. Sometime, you may not have any side effects, or some other times, you may have some. The majority of the side effects or risks are temporary. These can also be controlled. But these side effects disappear with the passage of time when the treatment is over. Some common side effects are given below:

Any part - Hair loss at treatment site (sometimes permanent), skin irritation at treatment site,fatigue 

Head and neck - Dry mouth, thickened saliva, difficulty swallowing, sore throat, changes in
the way food tastes, nausea, mouth sores, and tooth decay

Chest - Difficulty swallowing, cough, shortness of breath 

Abdomen - Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Pelvis - Diarrhea, bladder irritation, frequent urination, sexual dysfunction

Expectations

Both the external radiation therapy and the brachytherapy are started after a meeting about the plan of the treatment. The patient discusses with the consulted oncologist and a therapist. They may prescribe you a planning period which is known as simulation. The therapist marks a small area to show where to put the radiation may be temporary or tattoo-like. If the patient is a receiving radiation therapy to head or neck.

External beam radiation: In external radiation therapy or external beam radiation, a machine is used which is directed using a linear accelerator. The radiation of the machine enters in your body. The therapist will place you in the right position and then he will go to a separate room. During this therapy, the patient doesn’t need to hold breath during therapy. He can talk to the therapist via speaker system of the room.

Internal radiation therapy: During this therapy the patients’ treatment team will used two devices. The first one is like a tube called catheter and the second one is a large device which is called applicator. These are used to enter the radiation into your body. Sometimes, the implant remains in your body for up to a few days until the doctors remove it and some other time, it may remain shorter time such as 10-20 minutes. When treatment is conducted through shorter time, this continues several weeks. When treatment is over, the doctor removes the device from your body. But also, some other times, you may have to keep an implant permanently, which will stop working after a certain period.