At this day in age we are constantly trying to improve the field of medicine in any way that we possibly can. We cherish every birthday and continually try to prolong life. Not only through every field of medicine, especially in terms of cancer. The American Cancer Society is “the official sponsor of birthdays” and is making leaps and bounds in the types of care that cancer patients receive. One of these many breakthroughs is the practice of Stereotactic (Body) Radiotherapy or S(B)RT. SBRT and other radiation therapies have the ability to greatly improve the way that we treat the issue of cancer and the variation of treatment options; however, they have raised the concerns of long term effects from radiation and cost-effectiveness. As research has begun to show, radiation therapies are having great success in curing cancer.
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, ...
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... non-resectable primary liver tumors. Acta Oncologica, 51(5), 575-583. doi:10.3109/0284186X.2011.652736
Johns Hopkins University. (n.d.). Stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy. In Treatments. Retrieved from http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/radiation_oncology/treatments/stereotactic_radiosurgery_body_radiation_therapy.html
Radiation Effects Research Foundation. (2007). How radiation affects cells. In Basics About Radiation. Retrieved from http://www.rerf.jp/radfx/basickno_e/radcell.htm
Radiation Oncology Centers. (2011). Stereotactic body radiation therapy. In Procedures. Retrieved from http://www.rasradiationoncology.com/radiation_oncology/stereotactic-body-radiation-therapy
Yale School of Medicine. (2014). Stereotactic radiosurgery/ gamma knife program. In Therapeutic Radiology. Retrieved from http://radonc.yale.edu/clinical/gamma.aspx
When taking a radiograph there are some precautions that can be taken to reduce some of the radiation that can be exposed to a patient, what would be used on all patients is call a lead apron and thyroid collar, these aprons are used to protect the patients that may be a bit more radiosensitive and also may give the patient a little of reassurance that they will be protected. “Radiosensitivity is the relative susceptibility of cells, tissues, organs, organisms, or other substances to the injurious action of radiation.”
13. Frey, Rebecca J. "Radiation therapy." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Science in Context. Web. 24 May 2014.
1. Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) which is used to deliver a precise dose of multiple radiation treatment fields to a patient.
The most common type of radiation therapy that is used involves exposure of patients to external radiations. In this method, a beam containing high-energy X-rays is directed to a specific region of the body to irradiate the main tumors. However, the problem with this technique is that the ability to hit normal tissues of adjacent organs (Noda et al., 2009). Different from this, targeted radionuclide therapy functions like chemotherapy. A radionuclide labeled molecule is administered either orally or intravenously such that it delivers radiations that are sufficiently toxic to the site of the disease to kill the target cells (Bolus & Brady, 2011). However, the main difference with chemotherapy is that the drugs or toxins only...
Heat and x-rays are an example of radiation. A type of non-ionizing radiation is radiofrequency radiation. (Cancer 1) If radiofrequency radiation is engrossed in large amounts of materials containing water and food it can produce heat. This can lead to burns, tissue damage, and harm DNA cells. Heat is the main effect of exposure to radiofrequency. (Cancer 2)
Radiation therapy is a growing field that has not been around very long. This field works with patients that have many different types of cancer ranging from leukemia, lung cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and brain cancer among others. Cancer can be effectively treated using surgical, chemical and radiation treatment or a combination of the three. Many advantages and disadvantages have emerged when considering the use of radiation therapy and these pros and cons should be discussed thoroughly between the Oncologist and patient before a decision has been made on a course of action. Special licensing is required to enter this specialized field of radiation therapy and can be obtained through special programs.
2016, pg. 144). Beam-restriction devices lower the amount of tissue that is exposed to radiation
Radiology is one of the few so-called “physical-science”-based fields of medicine, making it a challenging and rewarding application of an academic interest in science. It combines advanced knowledge of human physiology with principles of atomic physics and nuclear decay, electricity and magnetism, and both organic and inorg...
Radiation therapy is a complex treatment plan to treat cancer in patients. Its treatment can be used alone or in conjunction with surgery or chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is delivered by a team of individuals who specialize in the treatment of cancer. There are several ways in which the radiation can be delivered to the patient with specialized equipment. Radiation therapy is an exciting field of study that can be beneficial to patients who are affected by cancer.
What is radiology? Radiology is a branch of medical science that makes the use of radiation and radioactive materials. Radiology is related to energy- related physical phenomena in the diagnosis and treatment of particular diseases. Two major therapy- related areas of radiology are so- called therapeutic radiology. Therapeutic radiology deals particularly with the use of ionizing radiation is to treat cancer, and interventional radiology, Which radiological imaging techniques are used to assist various minimally invasive surgical procedures.
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...
In order to understand the risks associated with nuclear energy, it is necessary to understand the properties of radiation and their effects. The term radiation refers to a wide range of things. Ionizing radiation is the kind that can and does cause damage. Ionizing radiation creates ions when it strikes something, which can then affect matter such as human tissue. The two main types of ionizing radiation are electromagnetic and particle. Ionizing electromagnetic radiation includes x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays. Ionizing particle radiation involves alpha particles, which are helium nuclei, beta particles or electrons, and neutrons. Gamma rays, alpha particles, and beta particles are the main forms of radioactivity associated with nuclear power (Taylor, 1996).
Ionization radiations are used in radiotherapy for cancer treatment and these radiation can control rapid cell growth. Nowadays, radiotherapy is converted to one of the most important modality of cancer
According to Orth & Goske, 2009, the effective dose of a pediatric chest CT exam is 300 times that of a plain chest radiograph. The author poses the point that pediatric patients receive a higher dose than necessary if an adult technique is set; Children likely receive a higher dose from an adult technique due to the larger size setting (National Cancer Institute, n.d.). This was confirmed by a study that simulated the doses on phantom subjects. Due to the way CT delivers radiation in a rotating fashion, the dose at the center of a patient’s body is less than the dose received at the surface (Orth & Goske, 2009). This would mean the thicker a patient is, the more dose is absorbed before it reaches the midpoint or core of the body, effectively lowering a patient’s core dose. Pediatric patients are naturally smaller than their adult counter-parts, so they likely receive a higher core dose of radiation from each CT study. The specific pediatric organs susceptible to radiation are outlined well by the authors. The audience will find it easy to process information on radiation, because the authors compare it to everyday background
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