Different Radiation Treatment Options and Their Application

Radiation therapy is one of the most effective treatments in treating cancer. In this process, the DNA of the cancerous cells is destroyed with the help of radiation, thus restraining the malignant cells to reproduce and grow. Among the different Radiation treatment options available, the oncologist will suggest the most suitable process according to the current health condition and stage of cancer. External –beam radiation therapy is most commonly used in treating cancer. The other types of radiation therapy include internal radiation therapy and Systemic radiation therapy. In External-beam radiation therapy, as the name suggests an external beam of radiation is used for treatment in sessions over a prolonged period of time.

3D-CRT or 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is a common type of external beam radiation therapy that uses sophisticated software and the latest equipment to deliver radiation precisely to the targeted cells. IMRT or Intensity modulated radiation therapy uses collimators to deliver dosage of radiation. The plus side of this technology is that the dosage can be modulated according to the requirements. Tomotherapy is an image guided IMRT. Tomotherpy can be more effective than 3D-CRT in delivering more targeted radiation. Stereotactic Radiotherapy enables the radiation oncologists to target specific cells, thus sparing most of the healthy ones. In proton beam therapy, rays of proton are used for radiation instead of X-rays. On the other hand, Neutron beam therapy is used to treat radio-resistant tumours.