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Radiation Therapy
URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/radiationtherapy.html

Radiation Therapy

Also called: Brachytherapy, Radiotherapy
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Summary

What is radiation therapy?

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment. It uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading. It may also be used for easing cancer symptoms. Radiation therapy may damage healthy cells. They can usually repair themselves more easily than cancer cells.

You may need days or weeks of treatment before the radiation starts killing cancer cells. But cancer cells should keep dying for weeks or months after your treatment ends.

When is radiation therapy used for cancer treatment?

Radiation therapy treats many types of cancer. It may be used at different times or for different reasons during your treatment. Sometimes radiation is used with other treatments, like surgery, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy.

How is radiation therapy given?

You may get radiation therapy once a day or in smaller doses twice a day for a few weeks. The radiation may be external, from special machines, or internal from radioactive substances placed inside your body.

The type of radiation therapy you get depends on many factors, including:

  • The type of cancer
  • The size of the cancer
  • Where the cancer is in your body
  • How close the cancer is to normal tissues that are sensitive to radiation
  • How far the radiation needs to travel into your body
  • Your general health and medical history
  • Whether you will have other types of cancer treatment
  • Other factors, such as your age and other medical conditions

What are the side effects of radiation therapy?

Your treatment must be carefully planned to reduce side effects. Radiation therapy can damage normal cells as well as cancer cells. Healthy cells usually repair themselves but damaging them can cause side effects.

Side effects can vary from person to person. Common side effects include skin changes and fatigue. Other side effects depend on the part of your body being treated. Most side effects go away a few months after you are done with treatment.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Start Here

  • How Radiation Therapy Is Used to Treat Cancer Easy-to-Read (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation Therapy and You: Support for People with Cancer From the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation Therapy to Treat Cancer From the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute)

Related Issues

  • Low Blood Cell Counts: Side Effects of Cancer Treatment (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
  • Oral Complications of Cancer Therapies From the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation Therapy Side Effects (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Specifics

  • Brachytherapy (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
  • Gamma Knife (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
  • Proton Therapy (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America)
  • Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

  • ClinicalTrials.gov: Radiotherapy From the National Institutes of Health (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

  • Article: Radiation-induced cardiac substructure damage and dose constraints: a review.
  • Article: YTHDFs as radiotherapy checkpoints in tumor immunity.
  • Article: Screening and Risk Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation After Radiotherapy for Breast...
  • Radiation Therapy -- see more articles

Find an Expert

  • American Cancer Society
  • National Cancer Institute From the National Institutes of Health Also in Spanish
  • RadiologyInfo (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

  • Radiation Therapy (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

  • Oral mucositis - self-care (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation enteritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation therapy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
  • Radiation therapy - skin care (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Topic Image

Radiation Therapy

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

  • Abdominal radiation - discharge
  • Brain radiation - discharge
  • Breast external beam radiation - discharge
  • Chest radiation - discharge
  • Mouth and neck radiation - discharge
  • Oral mucositis - self-care
  • Pelvic radiation - discharge
  • Proton therapy
  • Radiation enteritis
  • Radiation therapy
  • Radiation therapy - questions to ask your doctor
  • Radiation therapy - skin care
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery - CyberKnife
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery - discharge
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery - Gamma Knife

Related Health Topics

  • Diagnostic Imaging

National Institutes of Health

The primary NIH organization for research on Radiation Therapy is the National Cancer Institute

Other Languages

Find health information in languages other than English on Radiation Therapy

Disclaimers

MedlinePlus links to health information from the National Institutes of Health and other federal government agencies. MedlinePlus also links to health information from non-government Web sites. See our disclaimer about external links and our quality guidelines.

The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health.

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