Overview
Most of the cancer patients receive radiotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer at one or the other point of time as a part of the cancer treatment.
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy focusses on delivering the dose as precisely as possible and limited to the affected tumor part sparing the unaffected normal tissues. This helps minimize the adverse effects caused to the cancer patient and avoids damage to the normal cells. Imaging tests in radiotherapy help in a better determination of the exact shape and location of the tumor and define its boundaries. The patient is instructed by the radiology specialist based on the type of exam being performed on the patient.
Multi-disciplinary team of professionals are involved in the treatment planning for a cancer patient undergoing radiotherapy on an individual basis.
Professionals involved in radiation therapy treatment include:
- Radiation therapists
- Radiation oncologists
- Radiation oncology nurses
- Medical radiation physicists
- Dosimetrists
What is Radiation therapy?
Radiotherapy or Radiation therapy for cancer is the treatment modality which uses high-energy radiation or ionizing radiations to damage tumor cells and destroys their ability to divide and stop them from spreading.
What are the types of radiation therapy?
The radiation treatment for cancer may be delivered from external source, using special machines, or internally, employing tracers or radioactive substances that are injected or ingested to reach the tumor location inside the body. Radiotherapy can be used alone in combination with chemotherapy and/or surgery as a curative therapy or to mitigate cancer symptoms to relieve a pain or alleviate other symptoms. Basically, radiation therapy is of two main types – External beam radiotherapy and Brachytherapy or Internal beam radiotherapy.
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