Radiation therapy
hideRadiation therapy (also radiotherapy or radiation oncology, sometimes abbreviated to XRT) is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis). Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment. It is used as palliative treatment (where cure is not possible and the aim is for local disease control or symptomatic relief) or as therapeutic treatment (where the therapy has survival benefit and it can be curative). Total body irradiation (TBI) is a radiotherapy technique used to prepare the body to receive a bone marrow transplant. Radiotherapy has several applications in non-malignant conditions, such as the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, severe thyroid eye disease, pterygium, pigmented villonodular synovitis, prevention of keloid scar growth, and prevention of heterotopic ossification. The use of radiotherapy in non-malignant conditions is limited partly by worries about the risk of radiation-induced cancers.
Radiotherapy is used for the treatment of malignant tumors (cancer), and may be used as the primary therapy. It is also common to combine radiotherapy with surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or some mixture of the three. Most common cancer types can be treated with radiotherapy in some way. The precise treatment intent (curative, adjuvant, neoadjuvant, therapeutic, or palliative) will depend on the tumour type, location, and stage, as well as the general health of the patient.
Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumour. The radiation fields may also include the draining lymph nodes if they are clinically or radiologically involved with tumour, or if there is thought to be a risk of subclinical malignant spread. It is necessary to include a margin of normal tissue around the tumour to allow for uncertainties in daily set-up and internal tumor motion. These uncertainties can be caused by internal movement (for example, respiration and bladder filling) and movement of external skin marks relative to the tumour position.
To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs which radiation must pass through in order to treat the tumour), shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumour, providing a much larger absorbed dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue.
For more information about Radiation therapy, read the full article at
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News tagged with radiation oncology
Study questions true favorability of rare breast cancer type
Dec 12, 2009 |
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In a large review of breast cancer patients with mucinous carcinoma, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have identified an association between this rare type of breast cancer long-associated ...
PSA value at 2 years post-treatment can predict long-term survival in prostate cancer patients
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Prostate cancer patients who have a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value of less than or equal to 1.5 at two years after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) are less likely to have a cancer recurrence and cancer-related ...
Scientists identify possible therapy target for aggressive cancer
Dec 01, 2009 |
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UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that a naturally occurring protein -- transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-ß1) -- which normally suppresses the growth of cancer cells, causes a rebound effect after ...
Women researchers less likely to receive major career funding grants, study shows
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Women were less likely than men to receive major funding for scientific research, according to a study from the University of Michigan Health System. The study also found that only a quarter of all researchers, ...
Most radiation oncologists utilize advanced medical imaging techniques, study suggests
Nov 25, 2009 |
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A recent study shows that 95 percent of radiation oncologists use advanced imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 4-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) ...
Insomnia prevalent among cancer patients who receive chemotherapy
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Three quarters of cancer patients and survivors treated with chemotherapy suffer insomnia or sleep disorders that often become chronic conditions, hindering patients' ability to fully recover, according to scientists at the ...
Rare pancreatic cancer patients may live longer when treated with radiation therapy
Nov 20, 2009 |
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Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy, according to ...
Stem cells alleviate tumor treatment side effects
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study.
Radiation therapy after lumpectomy for breast cancer can be safely reduced to 4 weeks
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center found that radiation treatment for women who had a lumpectomy for early-stage breast cancer can be safely reduced to four weeks, instead of the usual six to seven weeks, by delivering ...
Does race, income predict prostate cancer outcome?
Nov 04, 2009 |
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A patient's socioeconomic status (income, martial status and race) has absolutely no impact on his outcome following curative radiation therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, according to a new study from Henry Ford ...
Cancer patients want honesty, compassion from their oncologist
Nov 04, 2009 |
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What do patients want from their radiation oncologists? The most significant preference is that more than one-third of female cancer patients (37 percent) prefer to have their hands held by their radiation oncologists during ...
Study finds it's safe to treat HER2-positive breast cancer with trastuzumab and adjuvant radiation
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Standard adjuvant treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer patients, following primary surgery for their cancer, is Trastuzumab (Herceptin)--typically used in combination with chemotherapy. However, a new study by researchers ...
PET imaging before radiation not ideal for determining boost radiation doses
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PHILADELPHIA) Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of non-small cell lung cancer prior to receiving radiation therapy should not be the basis for determining areas that may benefit from higher doses of radiation, according ...
Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy reduces vision loss in optic nerve sheath meningiomas
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Optic nerve sheath meningiomas are rare tumors that are traditionally treated with surgery, which is typically a blinding procedure. However, researchers from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have found that a specialized ...
Task force develops new radiation guidelines for brachytherapy
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Radiation dose delivered to the prostate and nearby organs in every brachytherapy procedure should be carefully analyzed using post-implant CT or MRI and uniformly documented in every patient, according to a new guideline ...
