Radiation Therapy

External Beam Therapy (EBT) eliminates the need for needles or instruments entering the body, and no radioactivity circulates within your body. Medical radiation physicists aid in this process, and radiation therapists will deliver the actual treatment. His goal is to spare as much normal tissue as possible. are many different types of radiation therapy; all using different sets of equipment and requiring the knowledge of specifically trained professionals. Perhaps the most commonly known one is External Beam Therapy. EBT is used mostly to treat breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer. The patient will usually be treated lying down, and the whole treatment takes only about 15-30 minutes. A radiation oncologist decides where the radiation will be administered, as well as the angles at which the beams are directed. In treating breast cancer, the most common side effect is a topical reaction. More serious side effects can include radiation pneumonitis (inflammation of the lungs) and esophagitis (inflammation of the tube that brings food from the mouth to the stomach).

Depending on the type of cancer, radiation therapy can have several different side effects. Some patients develop itching or dryness on the skin. Scientists have been coming up with more and more advanced ways of harnessing this power and channeling it into fighting cancer. For lung cancer, a general fatigue can be expected in the weeks directly following the treatment, as well as skin irritation, loss of

appetite and some hair loss.