Why is radiation used to treat cancer?

External beam radiation therapy is used to treat many types of cancer. Internal radiation therapy is often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, eye, and certain types of thyroid cancer. How Radiation Is Used with Other Cancer Treatments. For some people, radiation may be the only treatment you need. read more

Radiation may be used: As the first treatment for cancer that is still just in the prostate gland and is low grade. As part of the first treatment (along with hormone therapy) for cancers that have grown outside the prostate gland and into nearby tissues. read more

Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. At low doses, radiation is used in x-rays to see inside your body, as with x-rays of your teeth or broken bones. read more

Radiation therapy is treatment with high-energy rays (such as x-rays) or particles that destroy cancer cells. Two main types of radiation therapy can be used to treat breast cancer: External beam radiation: This type of radiation comes from a machine outside the body. read more

Such treatment can help destroy breast cancer cells that may have been left behind in the area where the breast was. In women that choose breast-conserving surgery and have radiation, there is now a new option that shortens the course of treatment from six or seven weeks to five days. read more

This is often called palliative radiation. To treat cancer that has returned (recurred) If a person's cancer has returned (recurred), radiation might be used to treat the cancer or to treat symptoms caused by advanced cancer. Whether radiation will be used after recurrence depends on many factors. read more