Overview

Overview

Radiology is a complete painless treatment used to cure cancer. It is directly targeted at the body part where the tumor has occurred. It is a well tolerated treatment since it does not have any side effects. It used high energy, ionising radiation (known as radioactivity) to cure the localised cancer. Radiotherapy destroys cancer cells and shrinks tumours by damaging the structure of dividing cells. Cancer cells typically divide faster than in normal tissue and so they are particularly vulnerable to radiotherapy. 

Purpose of Radiotherapy

• To cure cancer in a combination with other treatments.

• To restrict the growth of the cancer.

• To kill the infected cells that remain after the surgery.

• To ease the signs and symptoms of the cancer.

• To shrink the size of the cancer so it can be removed by surgery and be less likely to return.

Types of Radiotherapy

1. Internal Radiation Therapy - It involves putting up a radiation source inside your body. The source can be either solid or liquid.

2. External Beam Radiation Therapy - It works like an X-ray machine which does not touch you but can move around your body, emitting radiations from many different angles. It is a type of local treatment, which targets a certain part of your body.

Outlook

Planning radiotherapy takes into account not only your tumour but also information on the possible spread of the cancer.Radiotherapy is usually divided over a 2 – 8 week period. It is generally provided in small single daily doses five days a week.Each treatment takes a few minutes. Dividing radiotherapy into several small parts reduces the harm caused to healthy tissue and improves the effectiveness of the therapy.Patients usually go about their lives as normal during the period of treatment. In some cases accelerated radiotherapy may be given instead of phased radiotherapy.