June 15th, 2017
Radiotherapy or radiation therapy is usually offered to cancer patients as a treatment option. However, in case of prostate cancer, radiotherapy is rather complex with both benefits and risks.
In this procedure, the cancer cells are exposed to high radiations as they destroy the DNA present in the cancerous cells, keeping them from growing in number and spreading to the nearby organs. In advanced stages of prostate cancer, where it cannot be entirely removed, radiotherapy may be recommended by the doctor.
Listed below are the types of radiotherapies available for treating prostate cancer:
Either of the radiotherapy types may be recommended by the doctor. Upon failure of one, the other may be effective. At times chemotherapy and radiotherapy are given in a combination for better yield of the results. Apart from chemo and radiotherapy surgery may as well be considered as a treatment option for prostate cancer but it is only done when it is necessary. In rare cases a combination of both surgery and radiotherapy may be used for the complete destruction of cancerous cells.
While it can be a beneficial, radiotherapy comes with numerous side effects and risks such as:
Radiations used during the radiotherapy make the patient radioactive for time being; therefore the patient is requested to stay at the treatment facility until the effect wears off.
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