За шта се користе различите врсте радиотерапије?
Some people might imagine that radiotherapy is just one kind of treatment, or that it is only used to treat cancers that cannot be surgically removed. In fact, radiotherapy comes in different forms and may be used to treat various conditions.
The use of radiotherapy dates back to the turn of the 20th century, when it became understood that radiation could have some beneficial effect for cancer patients.
Over time, however, greater understanding of radiation, advances in technology, improvements in diagnostics and developments in other treatments that can be used in conjunction with radiotherapy have vastly increased the ways it can be used effectively.
What Are The Different Types Of Radiotherapy?
Турнеја центар за радиотерапију, we offer some of the most advanced radiotherapy treatments.
The main types of radiotherapy are:
- External, as delivered by a linear accelerator machine
- Stereotactic, which is also external and involves high-precision targeting
- Internal radiotherapy, where radioactive material is injected into an area of the body
The use of external radiotherapy using a линеарни акцелератор machine may target one particular area, such as the breast or prostate.
It can also be used for full-body doses and localised radiotherapy, which are used for treating secondary cancer when it has spread to multiple sites.
Stereotactic radiotherapy is a means of delivering radiotherapy that is even more precise, directing intense beams of radiation into very small areas. It involves highly precise delivery of high doses to small, well-defined targets, often over a limited number of treatment sessions.
It is used for attacking small cancerous targets such as tumours, while leaving the surrounding healthy tissue largely untouched to minimise side effects. The aim is to minimise radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue, but some normal tissue will inevitably receive radiation.
The term stereotactic radiotherapy was coined by Ларс Лексел, the Swedish neuroscientist who invented the Gamma Knife device in the 1960s. More advanced versions of this have subsequently been developed.
Интерна радиотерапија comes in two forms, both of which involve the administering of a radioactive substance into the body.
Brachytherapy delivers specifically targeted doses, such as adjacent to a tumour. Systemic radiotherapy, meanwhile, injects a substance into the bloodstream that can target cancerous cells.
How Is Radiotherapy Used Alongside Other Treatments?
The ways radiotherapy can be used also vary:
- It can be used in conjunction with surgery
- It can be used in combination with other non-surgical treatments such as chemotherapy
- It can be used on its own
The choice of how to use radiotherapy may depend on various factors. For example, where it is used alongside surgery, the initial step will be to surgically excise a tumour or other cancerous tissue and then use it to treat any remaining cancer cells.
This particular use of radiation is known as адјувантна радиотерапија and it can also be used when apparently all of the cancerous tissue has been excised, to help prevent a recurrence.
In some cases, sections of tumours cannot be surgically removed, so the radiation will be used to shrink those surviving parts.
Radiotherapy can be used as a sole treatment for a range of cancers and clinical situations, not only when surgery is impossible.
On occasion, the use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy together can help to fight cancer more effectively than each method on its own, as they will attack it in different ways.
What Is Low-Dose Radiotherapy Used For?
The last consideration is the variations in the dosage of radiation given.
Radiation dose varies according to the cancer, treatment intent, target, fractionation and treatment technique. It needs to be powerful enough to damage the DNA of cancer cells to stop them from replicating.
Међутим, ниске дозе радиотерапије can be used to treat some non-cancerous conditions. We offer this as a means of treating problems such as joint pain and osteoarthritis.
This is designed to reduce the inflammatory response to reduce pain, but note that even low-dose radiotherapy has potential risks and side effects.