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Radiation Therapy

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Radiation Therapy
Radiation Therapy

What is radiation therapy? According to wikipedia Radiation therapy discovered in 1889 also known as radiotherapy, radiation oncology, or XRT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation as a part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells. Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment, with curative being the cure and adjuvant being additional treatment. Radiation therapy can also be used as palliative treatment, which is where a cure is not possible and the aim is for disease control or relief of symptoms. It can also be used as therapeutic treatment, where the therapy can result in surviving the cancer and the cancer can be cured. A radiotherapy technique used to prepare the body to receive a bone marrow transplant is known as total body irradiation (TBI). There are several different types of radiation therapy including external beam radiotherapy, Brachytherapy, and systemic radioisotope therapy. From its discovery in the 19th century radiation therapy has come a long way through research and innovation. Radiation therapy can be used in non-malignant cancer treatment or malignant cancer treatment. Radiation therapy has several applications in non-malignant conditions, such as the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, severe thyroid eye disease, apterygial, pigmented villonodular synovitis, prevention of keloid scar growth, and prevention of heterotopy ossification. The use of radiation therapy in non-malignant conditions is limited due to the risk cancers that may be radiation-induced. Radiation therapy is also used for the treatment of malignant tumors, and is often used as the primary therapy. It is also common to combine radiotherapy with surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or some mixture of the three. Almost all common types of cancer can be treated with radiation therapy in some way. The precise treatment intent (curative, adjuvant, neoadjuvant, therapeutic, or palliative) will depend on the tumor type,



Bibliography: ECCO-the European Cancer Organisation. "Identification Of Highly Radiosensitive Patients May Lead To Side Effect-Free Radiotherapy." ScienceDaily 25 September 2009. 29 November 2009 http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/09/090924093353.htm. Article base free online articles directory. “History of Radiation Therapy” Article Base Dec 25th, 2007 Health castle nutrition inc. “Radiation Side Effects” health castle © 1997-2009 http://www.healthcastle.com/se_radiation.shtml Tro, Nivaldo J.. Introductory Chemistry. upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Peasrson Education, Inc, 2009. "Radiation Therapy". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.,. 27 November 2009 .

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