Radiation Oncology and Radiotherapy

So this is going to be a brief run down on Radiation Oncology and Radiotherapy. Radiation Oncology is a medical specialty which uses radiation in a controlled way to cure cancer. Sometimes it is also used to reduce pain and other symptoms of cancer. Its one of the three scientifically accepted methods we commonly use in cancer treatment, the other two being the more well known chemotherapy and surgery. Radiotherapy is the actual treatment given by a radiation oncology team, which include clinicians, medical physicists, and radiation therapists, we will talk about them more later. Around 40% of all cancers treatments are treated with the use of radiotherapy.

I will just give a basic rundown on how radiotherapy works. I plan on doing a more thorough post on how radiotherapy works later. Radiotherapy basically kills cancer cells by delivering radiation to them. I know there is a lot in that sentence, and there is more too it than just that, there is a lot of radiation biology going on. But for now all you need to know is that you deliver the radiation to the cancer cells which kills them and stops them from growing or spreading throughout the body.

A Linac used to deliver radiation for cancer treatments

Now the majority of radiation that is delivered to do this is produced from expensive machines called Linacs, again more about those later. These machines come will all types of fancy devices to better target the radiation to the tumor, including imaging and patient positioning devices. It all depends on the type, size, and location of the cancer. That’s the beauty about radiotherapy, unlike chemotherapy to some degree, is that it is personalized treatment plan for each patient that walks through the door. And in most cases the treatments is quick and you can continue on with your normal day, unlike surgery. Although I should stress that I’m not saying there is anything wrong with chemo or surgery thought. You should always take your advice from your healthcare professional, and remember you can always get a second opinion. Just don’t get a second opinion from Google!

Originally published at www.radicalradiationremedy.com.