For some cancers that are too advanced to be cured, radiation therapy is very effective for pain and other problems caused by cancer, such as bleeding from the lung or bladder. For example, pain in the bones from the spread of cancer can be improved significantly or be completely removed in around 75% of patients.
The addition of radiation therapy to chemotherapy appears to have a 5.4% survival benefit at two to three years after treatment.
Despite the side effects, radiotherapy can be a highly effective treatment for cancer. 4 out of every 10 cancer cures include radiotherapy as part of the treatment plan. However, radiotherapy doesn't cause cancerous tumours to shrink immediately and it can take some time for the beneficial effects to become apparent.
Following treatment with stereotactic radiation, more than eight in ten patients (84%) survived at least 1 year, and four in ten (43%) survived 5 years or longer. The median overall survival (OS) time was 42.3 months.
Radiotherapy may be used in the early stages of cancer or after it has started to spread. It can be used to: try to cure the cancer completely (curative radiotherapy) make other treatments more effective – for example, it can be combined with chemotherapy or used before surgery (neo-adjuvant radiotherapy)
Types of cancer that are treated with radiation therapy
Brachytherapy is most often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye. A systemic radiation therapy called radioactive iodine, or I-131, is most often used to treat certain types of thyroid cancer.
Radiotherapy with the aim of curing cancer usually lasts between 1 to 7 weeks. For radiotherapy to relieve symptoms, you might have anything between a single treatment to 2 weeks of treatment. It might be longer than this. Your doctor will tell you how many treatments you'll have.
Palliative radiation therapy is one form of palliative therapy, treatment for the symptoms of a medical problem that doesn't treat the problem itself. It's considered comfort care and is mainly intended to improve a patient's quality of life.
Radiation therapy remains an important component of cancer treatment with approximately 50% of all cancer patients receiving radiation therapy during their course of illness; it contributes towards 40% of curative treatment for cancer.
Some people are able to work full-time during radiation therapy. Others can work only part-time or not at all. How much you are able to work depends on how you feel. Ask your doctor or nurse what to expect from your treatment.
Typically, people have treatment sessions 5 times per week, Monday through Friday. This schedule usually continues for 3 to 9 weeks, depending on your personal treatment plan.
Your doctor may then suggest a second-line treatment, also called second-line therapy. It is a different treatment that is likely to be effective. Depending on the type of cancer you have and the available drugs, you may be able to have third-line therapy or additional rounds of treatment after that.
Don't wear tight clothing over the treatment area. It's important not to rub, scrub or scratch any sensitive spots. Also avoid putting anything that is very hot or very cold—such as heating pads or ice packs—on your treated skin.
External Beam Radiation Therapy
This is a more prevalent radiation treatment in which radiation is given via the outside of the body using the equipment. The external beam radiation therapy cost in India can range from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 ($680 to $1360) for a full treatment.
Radiotherapy to relieve symptoms is also known as palliative radiotherapy. Palliative radiotherapy aims to shrink cancer, slow down its growth or control symptoms. It doesn't aim to cure cancer. Depending on the type of cancer you have, and where it has spread to, you might have external or internal radiotherapy.
During radiation treatment, the mean weight loss was 4.33 kg, and 53.6% (1303) patients had high weight loss (HWL; ΔW≥5%). The proportion of HWL was higher in patients with advanced T stage, N stage, high BMI level and who received chemotherapy.
Overview. Radiation sickness is damage to your body caused by a large dose of radiation often received over a short period of time (acute). The amount of radiation absorbed by the body — the absorbed dose — determines how sick you'll be. Radiation sickness is also called acute radiation syndrome or radiation poisoning.
Radiation therapy can also cause hair loss on the part of the body that is being treated. Hair loss is called alopecia. Talk with your health care team to learn if the cancer treatment you will be receiving causes hair loss. Your doctor or nurse will share strategies that have help others, including those listed below.
In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. If you remain in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured. Still, some cancer cells can remain in your body for many years after treatment. These cells may cause the cancer to come back one day.
Cancer may sometimes come back after cancer drug treatment or radiotherapy. This can happen because the treatment didn't destroy all the cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells by attacking cells that are in the process of doubling to form 2 new cells.
Radiation therapy kills cancer cells with beams of high-energy X-rays, gamma rays, or charged particles (called electrons or protons). It can be used in many ways. It depends on the type of cancer you have and where it is in your body. Radiation might be used to cure cancer.