9 things you must know about Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology

I want to tell everyone about Radiation Therapy and Radiation Oncology. And yes there is a slight difference between radiation therapy and radiation oncology, but here we can think of them as the same thing. Radiation therapy has become a great tool for tackling the cancer epidemic, and is now an integral part of many peoples life story.

The world’s population continues to grow older and older, and life expectancy is ever increasing. This is a truly great achievement of modern medicine. Sadly though, with increased life expectancy there is also an increased incidence of cancer. This is a fact. But we have radiotherapy to deal with the increasing cancer rates. Radiation therapy is a safe and effective treatment option that is benefiting at least half of all the people with cancer making it one of the most common cancer treatment.

So shouldn’t we all know a little bit more about it?

Here is a quick fire round of facts about radiation therapy- 9 in total so it’s really not that much reading :).

Yes, we all know this. I mean radiation is practically in the name of radiotherapy. Radiation therapy uses radiation in the form of high energy waves (called photons) and high energy particles (electrons, sometimes protons). This radiation is used to treat locally contained cancer, targeting specific areas.

….But isn’t radiation dangerous?….

The common belief is that radiation is dangerous and should be avoided. Let’s start off by saying we are talking specifically about ionising radiation. I mean, sunlight and wifi isn’t really dangerous. High energy electrons and photons can be dangerous in certain instances. This is because this type of radiation has enough energy to ionize and create damage to DNA. This is what is exploited in radiation therapy. The goal is to damage all the cancer cells while limiting damage to any healthy tissue.

The goal of a course of radiation therapy depends on the type of cancer and it’s stage of progression. Radiotherapy is an effective cure of cancer, especially for early stage cancer! A cure mean that a doctor can’t detect any residual cancer cells or other cancer markers, such as PSA score for prostate cancer.

However, radiation therapy can also be used for palliative alleviation. This means that radiation can be used to relieve symptoms of advanced terminal cancer.

Oncologists can use radiotherapy alone, or it can be combined with surgery and, or chemotherapy. Radiation treatment can shrink tumours and make them more manageable before other treatments, It can make chemotherapy more effective. IT can also be user after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells that were not visible to the surgeon. Sometimes, radiosensitizers are also used. Radiosensitizers are a type of drugs that help radiation therapy work better.

Radiation therapy, like many medicines and treatments, can cause side effects. These can be early or late side effects, during treatment or after an extended time. Early side effects can include skin redness and fatigue. Late effects can occur months after the last treatment and can be permanent, but hey, it’s a small price to pay for a possible cure to cancer. There are several methods to minimize the severity of the side effects, which will be discussed with cancer patients.

Many patients can continue their normal routine during radiation treatment, as long as they can schedule in their treatments. Treatments are normally between 15 to 20 minutes in length. It depends on your personal situation. Some people may continue their routine for the first half of their treatment course, as may start to feel fatigued towards the end of their treatment course.

Radiotherapy is accurate and precise. Modern Radiotherapy uses machines calibrated to sub millimeter accuracy with dose output accuracies below 1% to deliver radiation to the desired target. Couple this with the advance imaging systems to ensure that the patient is in the correct position make radiotherapy very accurate and precise. On top of this, Medical Physicists develop programs of systematic checks to ensure the machines are performing optimally.

While having radiotherapy some patients will need to change their diet. This is to minimise the severity of their side effects, or to deliver a better treatment. For example, for prostate treatments, the bladder is often filled to help push all the surrounding organs away and to position the prostate in a repeatable position from day to day. Your diet may also change if you are having treatment in the head and neck region, as your saliva production may be impacted. This can make some foods hard to swallow.

In any case, please listen to the professionals. As they know best! Don’t read about remedies and cures online.

Radiotherapy is a personalized treatment using many different techniques . It take into account your cancer staging and location. Many drugs are often not personalized, rather they are prescribed to an “average person”, or simply by weight. This make radiotherapy somewhat unique as everyone’s radiation treatment is different and goes through a complex path to finally develop your individual radiation treatment plan.

It is a common myth that when undertaking a course of external beam radiotherapy you become radioactive. This does not happen! The radiation is produced by a LINAC, and electronic device. Once the linac is turned off, it does not produce radiation, and the radiation does not stay within your body- it stops instantly.

However, if you are having a course of radioiodine for hyperthyroidism you will have some residual radioactivity inside you. Radioiodine treatments are quite rare, the majority of radiation therapy treatments are done using external beam radiation therapy. With Radioiodine treatment your body will give off low energy radiation for a period of time. Your doctor will advise you of any precautions you need to make.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this post. As always I appreciate any comments, questions, or feedback. Comment below or message me directly.

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Originally published at www.radicalradiationremedy.com on January 19, 2017.