How is radiation given?
Radiation therapy can be given in 3 ways: 1 External radiation (or external beam radiation): uses a machine that directs high-energy rays from outside the body into the tumor. It’s done during outpatient visits to a hospital or treatment center. It's usually given over many weeks and sometimes will be given twice a day for several weeks. A person receiving external radiation is not radioactive and does not have to follow special safety precautions at home. 2 Internal radiation: Internal radiation is also called brachytherapy. A radioactive source is put inside the body into or near the tumor. With some types of brachytherapy, radiation might be placed and left in the body to work. Sometimes it is placed in the body for a period of time and then removed. This is decided based on the type of cancer. Special safety precautions are needed for this type of radiation for a period of time. But it's important to know if the internal radiation is left in the body, after a while it eventually is no longer radioactive. 3 Systemic radiation: Radioactive drugs given by mouth or put into a vein are used to treat certain types of cancer. These drugs then travel throughout the body. You might have to follow special precautions at home for a period of time after these drugs are given.
What doctor is trained to treat cancer?
Radiation oncologist: This doctor is specially trained to treat cancer with radiation. This person oversees your radiation treatment plan. Radiation physicist: This is the person who makes sure the radiation equipment is working as it should and that it gives you the exact dose prescribed by your radiation oncologist.
What is the treatment for cancer that has returned?
To treat cancer that has returned (recurred) If a person's cancer has returned (recurred), radiation might be used to treat the cancer or to treat symptoms caused by advanced cancer. Whether radiation will be used after recurrence depends on many factors.
How does radiation help cancer cells?
But cancer cells grow and divide faster than most normal cells. Radiation works by making small breaks in the DNA inside cells. These breaks keep cancer cells from growing and dividing and cause them to die.
Why do people get radiation to their head?
This is done to help prevent cancer from spreading to the head even before it can.
How does cancer spread?
Cancer can spread from where it started to other body parts. Doctors often assume that a few cancer cells might already have spread even when they can’t be seen on imaging scans like CT scans or MRIs. In some cases, the area where the cancer most often spreads to may be treated with radiation to kill any cancer cells before they grow into tumors. For instance, people with certain kinds of lung cancer may get radiation to the head, even when there is no cancer known to be there, because their type of lung cancer often spreads to the brain. This is done to help prevent cancer from spreading to the head even before it can. Sometimes, radiation to prevent future cancer can be given at the same time that radiation is given to treat existing cancer, especially if the area the cancer might spread to is close to the tumor itself.
How many people with cancer get radiation?
More than half of people with cancer get radiation therapy. Sometimes, radiation therapy is the only cancer treatment needed and sometimes it's used with other types of treatment. The decision to use radiation therapy depends on the type and stage of cancer, and other health problems a patient might have.
What is effective dose in radiology?
To compare risks of partial and whole body irradiation at doses experienced in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine a quantity called effective dose is used. It is expressed in sievert (Sv). Effective dose is not applicable to radiation therapy, where very large absorbed doses affect individual tissues or organs.
What are doses in radiology?
The doses are a function of a number of factors such as tissue composition, density and thickness of the body. For example, it takes less radiation to penetrate the air in the lungs for a chest radiograph than to penetrate the tissues of the abdomen.
How much does a person's lifetime value increase after a whole body dose of 1 Sv?
The lifetime value for the average person is roughly a 5% increase in fatal cancer after a whole body dose of 1 Sv (which is much higher than would found in most medical procedures). A statistically significant increase in cancer has not been detected in populations exposed to doses of less than 0.05 Sv.
What is nuclear medicine?
Nuclear medicine uses radioactive substances, called radiopharmaceuticals, in the diagnosis and treatment of a range of diseases. These substances are especially developed to be taken up predominantly by one organ, or type of cell in the body.
Is radiation a cancer?
Thus a cancer caused by a small amount of radiation can be just as malignant as one caused by a high dose. Deterministic effects. These effects are observed after large absorbed doses of radiation and are mainly a consequence of radiation induced cellular death.
Is ionizing radiation a tool?
Ionising radiation is, therefore, one of the basic tools of contemporary medicine, both in diagnosis and therapy. Practice of con temporary, advanced medicine, without use of ionizing radiation appears currently unthinkable.