Is radiation used to treat all types of cancer?
Radiation therapy is used to treat patients in two clinical settings: first as curative therapy, where it is used as definitive therapy or combined with surgery and/or chemotherapy to cure patients of their cancer, or secondly as palliative therapy to relieve distressing symptoms in cancer patients such as pain. Approximately 50% of cancer patients receive radiation therapy during their management. Patients with localized cancers of the prostate, breast, cervix, head and neck, and others are often candidates for curative radiation therapy. Clinical trials are used to understand the optimal use and integration of radiation therapy with other approaches such as surgery and chemotherapy in the care of cancer patients. Are there side effects? The radiation itself is usually painless. During the course of therapy, patients may experience acute side effects that resolve within weeks after treatment. Following treatment, patients may experience late side effects which are very uncommon with m
