Everyday doctors all around the world are using their skill of reading cells through microscopes to figure out a way to treat and cure cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation seem like the main source of treatment but some people choose to take a more natural route that is not so hard on their body. But which one is best? It is said that most people decide on chemotherapy or radiation to help shrink their cancer because these two options can eliminate cancer.
Radiation starts out by the cancer patient receiving an x-ray of the area of the body where the cancer is located for they can verify the area that the radiation needs to be admitted to. The radiation therapist could also use a tomography scan. The tomography scan figures out where the radiation needs to be admitted in the body as well. One thing radiation therapists stress is to not damage healthy tissue that does not have cancer in it. Once the area is located through the x-ray or tomography scan, radiation can begin. The radiation therapist gets their linear accelerator ready and has the cancer patient lay down in the position where the radiation will be able to hit the tissue best. Once the radiation hits the body, it shoots out high energized ions that cause the cancer to shrink gradually until it is all gone (“Benjamin Wright”).
The radiation therapist and the radiation oncologist will come together with the patient and come up with a schedule on when their patient should receive radiation. Radiation is normally given once a day, five days a week, for two to nine weeks. Radiation treatment normally takes about ten to thirty minutes to be administered to the patient and it also does not cause them any discomfort or pain (“Benjamin Wright”).
The second typ...
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...ting the cancer is increased greatly. Cancer patients can decide on what route to take based on what their doctor tells them, how they are feeling, and how their body reacts to certain medications and treatments.
Works Cited
Hochwald, Lambeth. Best Advice From Black Doctors on Cancer. EBSCOhost, Apr. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Last, Walter. The Diversity and Effectiveness of Natural Cancer Cures. EBSCOhost, Mar./Apr. 1998. Web. 21 Nov. 2012.
Wright, Benjamin. Radiation Therapists. EBSCOhost, 2005. Web. 21 Nov. 2012.
St. Lifer, Holly. The Natural Way to Beat Breast Cancer. EBSCOhost, Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
“Cancer.” Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt, Md., Teresa G. Odle., and Melinda Oberleitnet, R.N., D.N.S. The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 6 vols.
“Chemotherapy.” MedicineNet. MedicineNet, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Because of advancements in technology and funding survival rates have increased in each patient and quality of life due to better chemotherapy and radio therapy drugs are helping millions of survivors round the world to lead a generally normal life without the risk of the cancer returning.
2. External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) which is usually offered when the lung cancer is either considered to be primary, or when it has metastasized (spread to other organs). This form of treatment uses a linear accelerator machine to focus a precise beam of radiation on a given area of the body for a precise period of time to kill off cancerous cells.
...0’s cancer mortality rates have dramatically decreased from 10% to over 80% for leukemia. Overall decline in mortality for cancer was nearly 54% from 1978 to 2008 (National Cancer Institute, 2011). Decrease in mortality rates are due to improvements in cancer treatments. Recent advances in treatments are due to aggressive cancer therapies and collaboration of findings from clinical trials. More than 80 percent of patients are expected to be long term cancer survivors (National Cancer Institute, 2011).
There are essentially three main types of cancer treatments; surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Surgery allows doctors to effectively remove tumors from a clear plane. Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat the tumor; but often the drugs affect other healthy cells in the process. Using radiation as a treatment can be either precise or vague. Many health stigmas can come from the vague forms of radiation or conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation treats both the unhealthy and healthy cells, therefore exposing healthy cells to harmful radiation (Radiation Oncology, 2011, p.6). When healthy cells are exposed to gamma radiation they are also exposed to ionizing radiation. The ionization can cause “breakage of chemical bonds or oxidization (addition of oxygen atoms)” in a cell; the main impact of this is on a cell’s DNA, if two strands of DNA break it can result in “mutations, chromosome aberrations, ...
Cancer is a disease in which cells multiply out of control and gradually build a mass of tissue called a tumor. There has been a large amount of research dedicated to the treatment and cure of cancer. Several types of treatments have been developed. The following are just some of the major examples of cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, biologic therapy, biorhythms, unconventional treatments, and hyperthermia. Each type of treatment is discussed in detail below.
Cancer is the term used to describe a group of diseases consisting of hundreds of ailments and although there exists so many different types of cancer, they all begin in a similar way. The body is made up of over a trillion cells, and cancer is the uncontrolled growth of malfunctioning cells in the body (Dawson, 1996). “Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries” (American Cancer Society, 2012).
...ate cancer are the quality of life, medical care, and nutrition. I have learned that scientists are coming up with broader and unique treatments of this cancer. One other factor that I encountered while researching was that African American men were more likely to develop this cancer due to the lack of resources to help themselves.
For cancer patients there are several treatment options. Surgery can remove cancerous tumors, chemotherapy uses drugs for treatment, and radiation therapy. The doctor in charge of the patient’s treatment may also choose to use radiation therapy. “Radiation
...y is the most common form of drug treatment. “Chemotherapy uses different kinds of drugs that can kill cancer cells” (NW Hospital). Chemotherapy can also kill cancer that has spread throughout the body as well. Again there are some advantages and disadvantages. When the surgery is over the person will be as a smaller risk of the cancer returning. Disadvantages include disruption of the menstrual cycle in women.
Rosen, Leo and Rosen, Gloria. (2011).Learn About Cancer. American Cancer Society. Retrieved November 26, 2015 from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/index
From the very time of birth, each one of us is made differently. We all have the same cells, body parts, and makeup but we all have a different face to present to the world. We all have different situations, beliefs and personalities. One thing everyone, both young and old have in common is the possibility for cancer to become an obstacle in his or her life. Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells and has affected more than one million people each year just in the United States. As of now there is no cure to this disease, although there are many different forms of cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and many different places to receive this. Chemotherapy is used to treat cancer cells with drugs that have a toxic effect to your body. Chemotherapy is a very harsh and difficult treatment to go through but the outcome may be well worth it. This treatment is not for everyone, though and is no guarantee that these treatments will cure you. It is only the patient’s decision to choose … is it worth living and fighting for, or is it time for me to go? Being diagnosed with cancer can drastically change someone’s life, along with the lives around him or her. This is why it is a hard decision to decide whether or not to receive treatment for this deadly disease. If the decision is made to refuse treatment for cancer, the decision must be respect. There are many reasons people refuse treatment. It’s hard to tell whether it’s more painful to the diagnosed patient or to the family and friends that are involved. People who refuse treatment for cancer have good reasons. Everyone’s diagnosis is different with respect to support, money, and general outlook on life. If they do not have much of these things they a...
Radiation therapists work closely with patients to fight cancer. According to Health Care Careers, Oncologists, Dosimetrists and nurses are some of the professionals that a radiation therapist works with while caring for a cancer patient. This group of professionals will determine a specialized treatment plan. The first step usually includes a CT scan performed by a radiologist to find the exact area that needs to be targeted with x-rays. Next, the therapist uses a special machine that emits radiation called a Linear Accelerator. They use this machine during a treatment called external beam therapy. During this process, the Linear Accelerator will project x-rays at targeted cancer cells or tumors. Another therapist will be in a different room monitoring the patient’s viral signs until the procedure is over. The external therapy l...
"What are the treatments for cancer?." A.D.A.M. Life's Greatest Mysteries. 2001. eLibrary. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
The energy in ionizing radiation can cause chemical changes in the the cells that can lead to damaging them. Most of the cells can either permanently or temporarily become abnormal or they can just die. Radiation can cause cancer by damaging the DNA in the body. The damage of the cells can also depend on how long the organs are exposed (environmental protection agency, 2017, unknown). If someone has many exposures at one time that radiation in the body keeps adding on. As well as if its only a little bit of exposure in on day and years later you get exposed again it keeps adding on the radiation will never leave the body. Having radiation in your body doesn’t affect you right away but as you get older it starts to show and you feel it. Chronic exposure is when someone is exposed many time for long periods. When this happens the type of effects it will carry is having harmful generic change, cancer, tumors, and even cataracts. Partial health effects can also depend on if it was internal or external exposure. Internal exposure is when either by drinking, breathing, eating and even an injection cause radiation to get inside your body. External exposure is when taking an x-ray out of your body and letting it go through letting all the energy go as it goes in (environmental protection agency, 2017, unknown). In the dental world radiation gets into the patients when we take x-rays on there teeth. In order to avoid to much radiation on them we put a lead apron on them and make sure to cover their thyroid which is the most common way of getting cancer when taking an x-ray. When we take the x-ray we stand behind a wall at least 6 feet away to avoid ourself from getting