Professional, Cervix, Radiotherapy

What Is Radiation Therapy?

Radiation therapy (also known as radiotherapy) is the use of different types of radiation to kill cancer cells. It is a local treatment, which means that it destroys cancer cells only in the part of the body being treated, and plays an important part in cancer treatment as 60% of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy at some time during the course of their disease.

This guide summarises some of the basic concepts of radiation physics and radiobiology to assist in the understanding of the use of radiation as a form of treatment. Different radiotherapy techniques are reviewed including brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy. Radiotherapy planning and how radiation treatment is delivered are explained. The different ways in which radiotherapy can be combined with surgery and chemotherapy are also discussed. The common side effects of radiotherapy as used for gynaecological cancers are summarised as well as some recommendations for the care of some of these side effects.