How Does Radiation Work?
Radiation therapy is a very common treatment for cancer, usually in tandem with either surgery to chemotherapy. If you’re wondering what is radiation, consider yourself lucky. Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays (or concentrated particles) to find and destroy cancer cells in a very specific part of the body. There are two general types of radiation therapy, both of which get more specific based on the type of cancer and it’s specific stage.
External radiation therapy is similar to an x-ray in that it’s a machine outside the body. The radiation is then beamed towards a specific area of the body.
Internal radiation uses injections (typically through a catheter) or implants (surgically placed close to the tumor) to deliver the radiation. There is also systemic radiation which can be ingested by the patient.