36^th Experts Meet On Cancer Research & Therapy

Radiation therapy

High- energy radiation is used in radiation therapy in order to shrink (reduce) the cancer cells or kill the cancer cells. X-rays, gamma rays and charged particles are the radiations used for cancer treatment. Radiation is sent to the body externally called external-beam radiation therapy and if the radiation comes from radioactive material placed in the body near cancer cells it is called internal radiation therapy or brachytherapy. Radioactive iodine that travels in the blood to cancer cells is systemic radiation therapy. More than half the amounts of people receive radiation therapy sometime at the course of treatment. Radiation therapy is done by damaging the DNA of cancer cells, in which it can damage the DNA directly or create free radicals within the cells that can in-turn damage the DNA.

Radiation oncologist’s plans a patient’s treatment through a process called treatment planning, that begin with simulation. At the time of simulation detailed imaging scans show the location of the patient’s tumors and the normal adjacent areas. There is different scanning equipment for treatment planning in radiation therapy.