Last Updated on March 8, 2023 by Umer Malik
In most cases, radiation therapy does not reach all parts of your body, thus making it ineffective in treating certain cancers that have metastasized to other body parts. However, it is a cancer treatment that can be used to treat different types of cancers when used together with other cancer therapies or when used alone. You can look for radiation oncologist surprise if you are interested in using radiation therapy to treat your cancer and help alleviate the symptoms of cancer. Below are a few reasons why radiation therapy is commonly used.
To shrink or cure cancer in its early stages
Generally, some types of cancers are usually very sensitive to radiation. However, radiation often shrinks cancer or makes it disappear entirely. Sometimes, your care provider may require you to use some anti-cancer drugs or chemotherapy before undergoing radiation therapy. However, for other types of cancers, radiation therapy may be recommended before surgery to help shrink the tumor, which is a type of therapy commonly referred to as neoadjuvant. It can also be used following surgery to ensure cancer does not return a form of treatment known as adjuvant therapy.
Usually, if your cancer can be treated with either surgery or radiation therapy, radiation therapy is the recommended treatment because it causes less damage to your body. In some situations, radiosensitizers are usually used to make cancer cells more sensitive to this treatment.
Prevents cancer from recurring in another part of the body
Cancer can metastasize from when it started to other parts of your body. In most cases, specialists usually assume that a few cancer cells might have spread to other parts of the body even though they are not visible using imaging scans. In other cases, the origin of the cancer may be treated using radiation therapy to prevent cancer cells from developing into tumors. For example, if you have lung cancer, your care provider may recommend radiation to the head even if Ct scans do not show any cancer cells because this type of cancer is more likely to spread to your head.
Treats recurred cancer
If your cancer has recurred, radiation therapy may be used to treat the symptoms caused by advanced cancer or treat the cancer itself. The number of types of radiation that will be used on cancers that have returned depends on various factors like if cancer has returned in a part where it was previously, it is not good to repeat radiation treatment on the same body part. Other types of cancers might be unresponsive to radiation treatment; therefore, there is no need to use radiation if they return.
Deals with advanced cancer symptoms
Some cancers have spread too much to be cured using radiation therapy, but it might be used to help alleviate cancer symptoms. It might help reduce concerns such as trouble swallowing, pain, bowel blockage, or difficulty breathing.
The care provider should be keen when using radiation because if strong radiation is used on certain body parts like testicles, it might result in infertility. Therefore, if you have been diagnosed with cancer and are interested in trying out radiation oncology to help shrink the size of your cancer or cure it, you should schedule your appointment at Arizona Center for Cancer Care today and receive the best treatment available.
Apart from that, if you are interested to know about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Reverses Aging then visit our Health category.
