Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is also known as radiotherapy or radiation oncology, this is a medical therapy or a kind of medical treatment which is used in cancer treatment (generally to control malignant cells).Radiation therapy can also be used either for adjuvant cancer or curative cancer treatment. The treatment does not exactly work as the cure but helps in providing symptomatic relief and also helps in local disease control; this kind of treatment is also known as palliative treatment. The basic aim of the treatment is fighting against cancer.
TBI (total body irradiation) total body irradiation is a radiation therapy technique which is used to make the body prepare for a bone marrow transplant operation. Radiation therapy also has several kinds of applications in conditions with non-malignant. There are few examples of the treatment trigeminal neuralgia, pigmented villonodular synovitis, pterygium, thyroid eye disease, prevention of heterotrophic ossification, and prevention of keloid scar growth. There is a limited use of radiation therapy in non-malignant conditions as with the use of radiation there are chances that one may tend to be at risk of radiation induced cancers.
Radiation therapy is mainly used as a primary therapy and may also be used as a treatment for malignant tumors that is cancer. It will not be wrong if we also combine radiation therapy with hormone therapy, surgery, chemotherapy or mixture of the three treatments. Cancers which can be treated under the following treatments are curative, adjuvant, neoadjuvant, therapeutic, and palliative, the treatment of all these cancers depends upon the stage, tumor type, location, and the general health of the suffering patient.
Radiation therapy is commonly used to be applied on tumor which is cancerous in nature. The field of radiation may also include draining the lymph nodes if they are radio logically or clinically involved with tumor, or in any case if there is a risk of spread of sub clinical malignant spread. There is a necessity to include a margin or space of the normal tissues around the tumor to allow the uncertainties in daily set up internal tumor motion. The uncertainties which are involved in the internal movements can be respiration filling and bladder filling, and also movement of external skin relative to the tumor position.
To protect the normal tissue from passing under from radiation such as skin or organ which may be exposed to radiation in the course of treatment special angled or shapes of beam are aimed at different angles of exposure to intersect the tumor providing a larger dose and not damaging the surrounding tissues.
Side effects of the radiation therapy
Damages to epithelial surfaces: epithelial surfaces like skin, pharyngeal, urothelium, oral, bowl mucosa and other epithelial surfaces may sustain radiation therapies radiation. The percentage of damage and the percentage of the recovery depend upon the rate or percentage of tumor of epithelial cell.
General fatigue
Swelling: also known as edema or oedema, this occurs as a part of normal inflammation, the swelling of the tissues which are soft in nature may tend to cause a problem in radiation therapy. The swelling may be of great concern during treatment of brain tumors, and brain metastases especially when tumor is causing total obstruction of the lumen. In case the problem rises surgical intervention may take place between the radiation therapy or radiation treatment. If in any case surgery is not allowed then the patient will be provided with steroids in-between the treatment to reduce the swelling.
Infertility: ovaries and the testicles (gonads) are body parts which on an average are very sensitive to radiation, generally they stop producing gametes after being exposed to normal but direct treatment of the radiation therapy. Generally the planning of the treatment is done in such a way that is the gonads are not a primary area they are avoided to be passed under radiation.
