Radiation Therapy In Cancer - Myths And Facts!

What is Radiation Therapy?

These are high energy Xrays used to kill cancer cells. These powerful rays attack the DNA (the chemical inside the cell which contains the genetic information). After the attack, the damaged cells attempt to repair the damage, if the repair is successful, the cell lives, however, if the repair is not successful, the cell dies.

There are mainly two types of radiation therapy - teletherapy and brachytherapy.

Teletherapy - when the radiation is delivered from a distance usually 80-100cm. Brachytherapy - when the radiation is delivered from near the target area. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and they are the weapons which are used depending upon the type of enemy.

The basic objective of radiation therapy or for that matter any treatment is maximum tumor kill and minimum side effects. With advances in technologies, now it is feasible to achieve maximum tumor kill (>95%) and keep side effects to a minimum. It is the latter that dictates the cost of treatment.

How is Radiation Therapy delivered?

Usually, it is a 5-6 weeks course, where the treatment is delivered 5 days/week on an outpatient basis. Each session is of 15-20 minutes.

Commons myths revolving around radiation therapy

1. Radiation is painful - Scientific Fact - It is a painless procedure, similar to getting a CT scan done. One has to lie down on a couch for 15-20 minutes and rest is taken care of by the machine. The most important requirement is lying still and comfortably so that radiation is delivered accurately to the site desired.
2. After taking radiation, I will become radioactive and pass on to people near me - Scientific Fact - Radiation does not pass from one person to another. Giving radiation is like splashing water, those nearby will be exposed to radiation at the time of splash, however, radiation does not spread from one person to another. Due to advances now unnecessary exposure is kept to a minimum and there are monitoring devices which record radiation exposure. However, your family members are safe.
3. Radiation causes cancer - Scientific Fact - Yes, radiation causes cancer, since radiation causes damage to the DNA (called a mutation), however, the risk of developing cancer is slightly higher than normal individuals and the benefit attained through radiation outweighs this risk manifold. Also, it takes usually 10 years for radiation-induced cancer to develop, hence a greater concern while giving radiation to children.
4. After complete removal, no need for radiation - Scientific Fact - Whether cancer will return or not depends upon multiple factors - extent of surgery (whether completely removed), type of cancer (some cancers are inherently notorious for aggressive behavior), extent of cancer (the ones which have spread are more likely to return even after complete removal). In all the cases where there is a likelihood of return, radiation is necessary for minimizing the chances of return. There are multiple research studies which have validated this.

Cost of radiation therapy-

Depends upon the technique used. Ranges from 50000 to 2 lakhs for the entire radiation therapy. The effect of radiation is the same, be it a 50000 treatment or a 2 lakh treatment, however it is the probability of side effects that vary, with latest advances better sparing of normal organs is possible. However, there are multiple charitable schemes available some governmental and some private schemes which render these expensive treatments affordable. Speak to your doctor for such schemes.