Benefits and Effectiveness

Since the 1960s, radiation therapy has been used as a treatment option for cancer. This treatment uses ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells. Recent advances in technology have made radiation therapy highly effective with minimal side effects.

Radiation therapy is used alone or in combination with chemotherapy or surgery to shrink tumours.

Here is the list of benefits and effectiveness of Radiation therapy:

• Radiation therapy effectively relieves pain and other problems like bleeding caused by advanced cancer. For instance, pain in the bone due to the spread of cancer can be completely relieved with radiation treatment.
• Radiation therapy is proven to treat almost all types of solid tumours.
• Newer techniques of radiation therapy like IMRT, IGRT, Rapidarc, cyberknife etc. are highly accurate and effective. They can target the cancer tissues precisely with minimal damage to surrounding normal cells.
• In prostate, bladder, lung, cervix, skin, head and neck cancers, radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy can be used as the main therapeutic treatment and this helps to avoid the risks of surgery and removal of organs.
• Radiation therapy is a very cost-effective treatment.
• Radiation treatment does not affect routine day to day activities of patient and attenders.
• As radiation therapy is an outpatient procedure, there is no need for a prolonged hospital stay.