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Radiation Oncology
Radiation therapy is the careful use of high energy x-rays, gamma rays, or electrons to destroy cancer cells. (Although radiation damages both normal and cancer cells, the damage to normal cells is more easily repaired.) The goal of radiation therapy is to destroy the cancer with as little injury as possible to the surrounding normal tissues. More than half of all cancer patients in the United States are treated with radiation therapy sometime during the course of their illness.
Radiation Treatment Intent
The purpose of radiation therapy is most often to cure the patient of cancer. (Such treatment is called curative radiotherapy.) To be curative, the treatment must eradicate every cancer cell or prevent them from growing and multiplying. High doses are often required when the aim of radiation therapy treatment is to cure.
Radiation therapy may also be used to relieve cancer symptoms, even when cure is not possible. (This type of treatment is called palliative radiotherapy.) Palliative radiotherapy may be given to relieve pain due to bone invasion, headaches due to brain metastasis, paralysis due to spinal cord compression, or to stop bleeding due to concer involvement. Palliative radiation therapy usually requires fewer treatments than curative radiation therapy because not all of the cnacer cells have to be eradicated to relieve the symptoms.
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