What is radiation therapy?
Radiation, which is administered in a variety of ways including high energy x-rays, gamma rays or photons, kills tumor cells and prevents them from growing. Radiation therapy can also slow the growth of the cells and shrink the tumor. By delivering high doses directly to the tumor, radiation can be extremely effective in curing and treating tumors, depending on the type of tumor, its size and location within the brain. Some tumors respond better to radiation than others. Radiation is usually used after surgery to kill remaining microscopic cells that may have been left behind. Chemotherapy may also be administered before or after radiation therapy, to further kill tumor cells and prevent their growth. Additionally, radiation and chemotherapy can be very effective in treating inoperable brain tumors. Very young children with brain tumors may be given chemotherapy, to delay the use of radiation until the brain is more developed.
Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading. At low doses, radiation is used as an x-ray to see inside your body and take pictures, such as x-rays of your teeth or broken bones. Radiation used in cancer treatment works in much the same way, except that it is given at higher doses.
Radiation Therapy (also known as Radiation Oncology) is a method of treating cancer utilizing very high energy x-ray or electron beams. These beams of energy are aimed at the tumor site and can penetrate deeply into the body to destroy the cancer cells or can treat cancers on the surface of the skin. Radiation therapy has been used successfully for treating cancer for over 100 years! In simple terms, cancer cells are killed when they absorb a given amount of ionizing radiation. Because cancer cells are active and rapidly dividing, they are particularly susceptible to the effects of radiation. By delivering a calculated amount of radiation over a specific amount of time, the malignant cells are destroyed. Healthy tissue that is irradiated has the ability to repair itself, whereas the cancer cells cannot.
