Radiotherapy, this is a treatment that is currently the best of all. Not only for cancer, but for other tumor diseases. Although it is more efficient to deal with cancer. This disease that is dangerous is that several cancer cells are going to move to a random point in our body, and when they reach the point they are going to divide producing more cells, and at the same time they will generate tumors. These tumors are extremely dangerous, and their growth is not slow, it is uncontrolled.
To make matters worse, one does not know when we will have cancer, and if you really have it. It must be in a phase where it can be detected. This is why if you are a person whose family descendants had cancer; you should have tests to treat the disease. You can also get cancer even if no member of your family had it. Since you can have it according to the healthy life you are leading.
If you want to know more about this popular and incredible treatment. Well don’t worry, because in this article you will know about this specific topic.
What is?
Radiation therapy or better known as radiotherapy. It is a treatment for cancer in which high doses of radiation are used so that they can reach cancer cells to damage them and cause death. As for tumors, they will be reduced, controlling the way they will grow or better yet stop their growth completely.
If it is in low doses, X-rays will be used, the same ones that are used to be able to see the inside of our body. As well as the well-known x-rays to be able to see our fractured bones and teeth.
How does it work
It was already explained above, but to know in more depth. It is that the radiation waves will damage the DNA, especially the cancer cells, once they are damaged, they will not have the ability to divide, their only option being to die. The good thing is that these cells cannot be recovered, and when they die, in time they will decompose, being the work of our body and system to dispose of them.
No, it is not that the treatment destroys the cells at once, it can be done but the body will not be able to withstand the incredibly high levels of radiation that will be used. So it will take days and many sessions to go through the process slowly but surely. Apart from that radiotherapy also damages our healthy cells. Although they can regenerate so that a large majority is saved.
Radiation therapy is applied to a specific area of the body, an area that has been confirmed to contain cancer cells.
Types of radiation therapy
Currently there are only 2 types of radiotherapy, external and internal.
You can’t choose which one you’re going to want, in reality it’s the doctor you’re going to decide on. And he is going to go depending on what type of cancer the patient has, how are the sizes of the tumors. Their location, how close the tumors are to radiation-sensitive tissues, how is their general health and medical history, and extra factors like the patient’s age and whether he had other medical conditions.
External
It works through a machine, which focuses the radiation on the target in question. The machine is somewhat noisy and large, although it does not touch it, but moves around it to send radiation from different directions to attack tumors. This treatment is applied to a specific area of the body, so if you have lung cancer, then you will only receive radiation to the chest.
Internal
This treatment is based on the fact that the source of the radiation is going to be placed inside the body; it can become solid or liquid.
Solid therapy is called brachytherapy; here ribbons, seeds or capsules will be used. Of which they have a radiation source, which is placed in the body of the tumor or near it. As well as the external one, this one is applied to the specific area of the body that contains cancer.
The liquid is called systemic. This starts from the blood to go to the tissues of the whole body from which it will locate and destroy cancer cells. This procedure needs to be administered by vein, mouth, injection, or intravenously.
