These days you will easily find various treating options towards a disease. All this is possible because of the advancement towards life saving treatment. In this article, we are going to learn about one such life saving treatment advances towards breast cancer. This treatment is called radiation therapy, which brings new hope for cancer patients. Radiation therapy is considered to be a simple and painless tool for treating breast cancer. Radiation therapy is conducted by using radiation to destroy cancer cells. High levels of radiation are sent deep into the cancer cells. Radiation is also used for destroying those cancer cells which could not be treated by surgery. The traditional method of radiation therapy is usually external in nature. However, internal radiation therapy is also being tried out. This is done by using a radiation – producing substance which is either implanted directly in to the tumor or an injection is used.
Radiation therapy is also known as radiotherapy, x-ray therapy or irradiation. When high level of radiation is send toward the effected area containing cancer cells, the DNA in their genes are damaged. This makes it impossible for them to grow and divide. During radiation therapy while treating the unhealthy cells, even some of the healthy cells get affected. However, healthy cells get repaired by themselves within a short time. Radiation therapy has some side effects. One of the common side effects of radiation therapy toward breast cancer treatment is skin irritation. The skin reaction varies from person to person. As the radiation therapy treatment progresses, it will become easily noticeable to the patient. The patient will experience an itching sensation, dryness, sun burnt sensation and the effected skin may found to be brisk red in color. Also, there might be blisters and moist oozing out of the effected skin. However, one must be aware of the fact that the reaction and its extent will differ from person to person. Now, the good news is that most skin reactions resolve within few weeks of the completion of radiation therapy.
The three types of radiation therapy treatment are as follows :
External beam radiation therapy.
In this method, the radiation is directed towards the cancer affected area and at the surrounding tissue. This is done with the help of a machine. In this process, a machine called as a simulator is used to images of the area to be treated. On the basis of the images, the radiation therapy team decides to direct the radiation to the body of the patient. During the radiation process, the therapist will watch you on a closed circuit television monitor and also there is an intercom to listen to you. The therapist might come to the cancer patient treatment room only if there arise a need to adjust the machine’s position.
Brachytherapy : In this type of treatment, the cancer patient is given high total dose of radiation in a concentrated area, within a short period of time. Brachytherapy uses sealed radioactive sources, which are placed in the body or at the nearby cancer affected area.
Systemic radiation therapy : In a systemic radiation therapy, the radiation source is given in liquid state. It is either given in the form of a drink or in a capsule. It can also be injected into a vein. It is called as intravenous injection. The radioactive sources will leave your body in the form of body fluids, such as saliva, sweat and urine. However, most of the radiation will be gone from the cancer patient’s body within few days. But the cancer patient has to take safety measures until the high levels of radioactivity are gone.
