RADIOTERAPIA | Amiisto

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy (also called radiation therapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high dose de radiation to destroy cells

cancerous and reduce tumors.

In low doses, radiation is used in x-rays to see inside the body, such as x-rays of teeth or broken bones.

How does radiation therapy against cancer work?

In high doses, radiation therapy kills cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their dna. Cancer cells whose DNA is damaged beyond repair stop dividing or die. When damaged cells die, they break down and are discarded by the body.

Radiation therapy does not immediately kill cancer cells. Days to weeks of treatment are required before the DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die. The cancer cells then continue to die weeks or months after the radiation therapy ends.

Types of radiation therapy

There are two main types of radiation therapy, external beam and internal radiation therapy.

The type of radiation therapy you may need depends on many factors, such as:

the type of cancer
The size of the tumor
The location of the tumor in the body
How close the tumor is to normal radiation-sensitive tissues
Your general health and medical history
Whether you will have other types of cancer treatment
Other factors, such as your age and other medical conditions

external beam radiation therapy

External beam radiation therapy comes from a machine that focuses radiation at your cancer. The machine is large and can be noisy. It doesn't touch you, but it can move around you and sends radiation to a part of your body from many directions.

External beam radiotherapy is un spot treatment, which means it treats a specific part of your body. For example, if you have cancer in your lung, you will have radiation only to your chest, not your whole body.

Learn more about external beam radiation therapy.

internal radiotherapy

Internal radiation therapy is a treatment in which the radiation source is put inside your body. The radiation source can be solid or liquid.

Internal radiation therapy with a solid source is called brachytherapy. In this type of treatment, seeds, ribbons, or capsules containing a radiation source are placed in the body in or near the tumor. Like external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy is a local treatment and treats only a specific part of the body.

With brachytherapy, the radiation source in the body will give off radiation for some time.

Internal radiation therapy with a liquid source is called systemic therapy. Systemic therapy means that the treatment is carried in the blood to tissues throughout the body where it finds and kills cancer cells. Systemic radiation therapy is given by mouth or through a vein, intravenously, or by injection.

With systemic radiation, body fluids (urine, sweat, and saliva) will give off radiation for some time.

Why do people with cancer receive radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy is used to treat cancer and relieve the symptoms of cancer.

When used to treat cancer, radiation therapy can cure cancer, keep it from coming back, or stop or slow its growth.

When treatments are used to relieve symptoms, they are known as palliative treatments. External beam radiation can shrink tumors to treat pain and other problems caused by the tumor, such such as difficulty breathing or lack of bladder and bowel control. Pain caused by cancer that has spread to the bones can be treated with systemic radiation therapy drugs called radiopharmaceuticals.

Types of cancer that are treated with radiation therapy

External beam radiation therapy is used to treat many types of cancer.

Brachytherapy is often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye.

Systemic radiation therapy uses radioactive iodine, or I-131, which is most often used to treat certain types of thyroid cancer.

Another type of systemic radiation therapy, called targeted radionuclide therapy, is used to treat some patients with advanced prostate cancer or gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (GEP-NET). This type of treatment can also be referred to as molecular radiotherapy.

How is radiation used with other cancer treatments?

For some people, radiation may be the only treatment they need. But, in most cases, it is possible to have radiation therapy with other cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Radiation therapy may be given before, during, or after these other treatments to improve the chance that the treatment will work. The length of time the radiation therapy is given depends on the type of cancer being treated and whether the purpose of the radiation therapy is to treat the cancer or relieve symptoms.

When radiation is combined with surgery, it may be given:

Before surgery so that the radiation will shrink the cancer so that it can be removed by surgery and less likely to come back.
During surgery, so that the radiation goes directly to the cancer without going through the skin. Radiation therapy used in this way is called intraoperative radiation. With this technique, doctors can more easily shield nearby normal tissues from radiation.
After surgery, to kill cancer cells that may be left behind.

Dose limits in lifetime

There is a limit to the amount of radiation an area of your body can safely receive in your lifetime.

Depending on how much radiation an area has already been treated with, you may not be able to receive radiation therapy to that area a second time. But, if an area of the body has already received the dose radiation safe for life, another area could still be treated, if the distance between the two areas is large enough.

Can radiation therapy cause side effects?

Radiation not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells, it can also affect healthy cells around them. Damage to healthy cells can cause side effects.

Learn more about the side effects of radiation therapy.

How much does radiation therapy cost?

Radiation therapy can be expensive. It uses complex machines and involves the services of many medical providers. The exact cost of your radiation therapy depends on the cost of health care where you live, the kind of radiation therapy you receive, and how many treatments needs.