One of the effects that ionizing radiation has on the human body is the appearance of cancer. To treat cancer, ironically, radiation is often used. Radiation treatment is the 2nd most common form of cancer treatment, next to surgery. The National Cancer Institute estimates that over half of all cancer patients receive radiation treatment sometime over the course of their illness (Radiation Therapy and You 2). It can be used alone to fight cancer or can be used in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is not usually administered by a normal physician, but rather by a radiation therapist, more commonly known as a radiation oncologist. Radiation treatment is also known as : radiotherapy, radiology, x-ray therapy, irradiation, or cobalt treatment.
What is Radiation Therapy? Radiation treatment consists of using x-rays at high levels (tens of thousands of times the amount used to produce the average chest x-ray) to destroy the cell's ability to grow and divide. (ONCOLOGY lit.) Both cancer cells and normal cells are affected, although the normal cells recover more quickly. Radiation therapy is used to fight radiosensitive cancer. Radiosensitive cancer is cancer that is susceptible to destruction by radiation. On the other hand, some cancers are radioresistant and cannot be treated with radiation within the safe dose range. There are two major methods of radiation treatment:
1/ Internal Radiation (a.k.a. radium implant, brachytherapy, or interstitual or intracavitary radiation) In this procedure the radiation oncologist places radioactive material (usually radium, cesium, or iridium), into or onto the inflicted area. The purpose is to place the radioactive material as close to the tumor as possible. This can be done in two ways: (i) The radioactive materials are put in a sealed container, such as a tube or