Radiotherapy is a medical procedure used for cancer treatment. This type of treatment is performed with X-ray energy to stop the spread of cancer cells.
Treating cancer patients with radiotherapy needs caution so that patients do not experience excessive side effects.
To purchase this medical device, an experienced Delivery installation specialist, and managed asset recovery services are needed. Since radiotherapy is susceptible to shock.
Treating Different Types of Cancer
Most cancer sufferers will receive radiation therapy as part of treatment. Radiotherapy is used by doctors to help treat almost all types of cancer. This radiation therapy is also useful in treating several types of benign tumors. Here are some reasons why radiotherapy is needed:
- As the only type of treatment for cancer.
- Combination with other types of treatment such as chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells.
- Stopping the growth of cancer cells that still exist after surgery (adjuvant therapy).
- Reducing the size of cancer before surgery (neoadjuvant therapy).
- In advanced cancer, it’s used to relieve symptoms caused by cancer.
Also, there are several new methods of radiotherapy to combat cancer cells.
- Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), which allows radiation to lead to cancer cells more accurately.
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) which is especially useful for the treatment of cancer of the head and neck.
Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is useful in treating small cancers.
Things to Prepare
Before you undergo radiation therapy, the medical team will guide a planning process to ensure that radiation reaches the exact location of a certain part of the body. Generally planning includes:
Radiation simulation. During the simulation, the radiation therapy team will ask you to lie down in a comfortable position. Pillows and liners are used to ensure that your position does not change during therapy. Then they’d mark the part of your body that will be treated.
Scanning plan. The radiation therapy team will do a computerized tomography or CT-scan to determine the area of the body that requires radiation.
After the planning process, the radiotherapy team will decide on the type of radiation and the dose the patient will receive based on the type and stage of cancer, the patient’s overall health, and the reason for the radiotherapy. The right focus and dose of radiotherapy are important to maximize the effects of radiation in destroying cancer cells while minimizing the detrimental effects.