Benefits Of Radiotherapy For Cancer Treatment

Cancer is one of the scary dangerous diseases. One treatment that is done is radiotherapy by utilizing energy-intensive as the rays kill cancer cells.

Radiation therapy is generally to use the power of the x-ray, but it can also harness the power of protons or other types of energy. Radiation therapy function damage of cancer cells by destroying the genetic material that controls cell growth and cancer cell self cleavage.

Treat Various Types Of Cancer

Most cancer patients will receive radiation therapy as part of treatment. Radiotherapy used by doctors to help the treatment of almost all types of cancer. Radiation therapy is also useful in treating some types of benign tumors. Here are a few reasons why radiotherapy is done:

As the only type of treatment for cancer.
The combination with other types of treatment such as chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells.
Stop the growth of cancer cells that are still there after surgery (therapeutic adjuvants).
Minimize the size of the cancer before surgery (neoadjuvant therapy).
In the advanced stages of cancer, in order to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.

Type Treatment Of Radiotherapy

In general there are two types of radiotherapy used for cancer treatment, namely:

External Radiotherapy. External radiotherapy is the most common type of radiotherapy. A machine will emit radiation, typically x-ray intensity is high. Radiation will be directed at parts of the body affected by cancer. Each session usually takes about 10-30 minutes. You will not feel pain or overheating during therapy.
Internal Radiotherapy. There are two ways of internal radiotherapy is commonly made, namely:

The implant. Generally the implant will be placed on the affected part of the body the cancer or nearby. The size and shape of the implant is very diverse with different radioactive materials. Primarily used for cancer of the uterus, rectum, cervix, prostate, mouth and neck.
Liquid. By way of drinking a liquid containing radioactive iodine. For example, for the treatment of thyroid cancer. The content of radioactive iodine will be absorbed by the bloodstream, then absorbed by the thyroid cells are exposed to either cancer or normal. Iodine will then be collected and destroy cells in the thyroid.

In addition, there are some new method of radiotherapy used to fight cancer cells.

Imaging-guided radiotherapy or the image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), allowing more accurate radiation leads to cancer cells.
Intensity modulated radiotherapy or Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) which is especially useful for the treatment of cancer in the head and neck.
Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) that can be used with a redirect on small cancer.
Proton beam therapy or proton beam therapy that can also minimize the healthy tissue exposed to radiation thanks to its high accuracy against cancer only.

Consider The Risk Of Side Effects

Side effects of radiotherapy depends on which part of the body exposed to radiation and how much the intensity used. It is possible that a person does not experience any side effects, while others experienced some side effects at once.

Most of the side effects are temporary, capable of controlled, and most importantly will soon disappear after therapy is completed.

The head and neck. Radiotherapy is done around the head and neck, possible side effects, among others, the condition of dry mouth, saliva thickens, sore throat, hard to swallow, changes in taste in the food consumed, nausea, mouth ulcers, and damage to the teeth.
Chest. Radiation therapy is done on the chest may cause side effects in the form of cough, short of breath, and difficulty swallowing.
The stomach. In the abdomen, side effects that occur are usually nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The pelvis. Side effects may include irritation of the bladder, frequent urination, diarrhea, and sexual dysfunction as the effect of radiation therapy is done around the pelvis.

Also there is also the risk that the public complained after radiation therapy, among other things on the loss of hair, skin irritation at the site of the therapy, and the tired.

The effect will usually be reduced in a few days or weeks after treatment is completed. Although rare, radiotherapy also has the possibility of long-term impact. For example the treatment on the part of the genital or pelvic risk causing permanent infertility.

Things that must be prepared

Before you undergoing external beam radiation therapy, a medical team will provide a guide in a planning process to ensure that the radiation right down to the location of the parts of the body that need it appropriately. General planning include:

Simulation of radiation. During the simulation, teams of radiation therapy will ask you to lie down with positions that make you comfortable. Pillows and delimiter used to ensure your position is not changed during therapy. Then the parts of your body that will diterapi will be marked.
Plan scan. A team of radiation therapy will do the scanning with Tools computerized tomography or CT-scan to determine the broad part of the body that need radiation.

After the planning process, the team will decide what kind of radiotherapy and radiation doses that the patient will receive based on the type and stage of cancer, the patient's health as a whole, and the reason it does radiotherapy. Focus and the right dose of radiotherapy is important to memaksimalisasi the effects of radiation in destroying cancer cells while minimizing the effects can be detrimental.

About four out of ten cases of cancer successfully cured by using radiotherapy as part of their treatment. But the results of radiotherapy depends on the type and stage of cancer as well as other treatments you receive.

The treatment of cancer is very important to be done by medical experts that reliable. Accompanied also by applying the pattern of healthy living, positive minded and strive remain active moving during the healing process of cancer.

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Benefits Of Radiotherapy For Cancer Treatment