RADIOTHERAPY
Radiotherapy damages cancer cells by destroying the genetic materials that control how cells grow and divide. Even though both healthy and cancerous cells are damaged by radiation, the overall goal is to destroy the smallest amount of normal, healthy cells possible. More than half of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy as part of their overall cancer treatment.
There are two main types of radiotherapy: External and Internal.
External Radiotherapy
This is the most common type of radiotherapy used. It is usually given as a course of several treatments over days or weeks. External radiotherapy uses external beam radiation therapy to treat cancer cells. This is sometimes used in conjunction with X-rays, photons, protons, and other types of high-energy beams.
The high-energy beams come from a linear accelerator machine and focus on the precise point of the body where the cancer cells are situated. At MLCC, there are three linear accelerators that deliver electrons and photons to targeted cancer cells.
It may be prescribed as:
- The only treatment for cancer
- Pre-surgery treatment: To shrink the cancerous tumour (neoadjuvant therapy)
- Post-surgery treatment: To stop the growth of any remaining cancer cells (adjuvant therapy)
- In combination with chemotherapy to destroy cancer cells
- To alleviate symptoms in advanced cancer
- Electron beams are used for treating skin cancer and superficial structures while photons are used to treat deep-seated tumors in the bladder, bowel, prostate, lungs, or brain.