Oncology is the study of cancer, while an oncologist is a doctor that treats cancer. In America, there are two main types of oncologists. A radiation oncologist is a doctor that specializes in treatment of cancer, known as radiation therapy, or more simply, radiotherapy.
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I have related the sad but not unusual case story of Gene. What had happened to Gene is what I have been seeing happen all too often. After chemotherapy and radiotherapy the cancer spread to the bone. I have often wondered if the treatments had anything to do with the metastasis. It is acknowledged that radiation itself can cause cancer.
Prostate cancer has many possible treatments, and often different treatments are used together to achieve the best results. One method of treatment is Brachytherapy, which is when a number of radiation seeds are implanted into the tumour in the prostate gland. The seeds then give a dose of radiation to the tumour over a period of time, usual several months although this varies.
Alternate medicine and radiotherapy are a combination that is growing in popularity. Radiotherapy treatment is normally used in cancer patients, with the most common type known as external beam therapy. This name evolved because the treatment consists of a beam of radiation that comes from a very sophisticated machine.
Prostate Cancer radiation treatment has a long history and has been used right from 1915. The first techniques resulted in morbidity and did not penetrate deeply to irradiate the tumors and also caused skin cancer. By the 1980s the linear accelerator was being used by oncologists, that helped to increase the speed of high energy particles and improved the beam's process aiming at the targeted area.
Radiation therapy used to treat prostate cancer is of two types: Brachytherapy and XRT (external radiation therapy). The external radiation therapy is called radiotherapy. 3D-CRT (Three dimensional conformal radiation therapy) and IMRT (Intensity modulated radiation therapy) are the new forms of EBRT. This prostate radiation therapy is non-invasive and aims high energy particles at the cancerous tissue.
Chemotherapy is an effective treatment used in all the other cancer treatments to stop the growth of cancer cells. You can take this treatment on a monthly basis or you may take intravenously. Duration of the chemotherapy depends on the type of drugs as well as the type of cancer to cure.
After surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for her breast cancer, Gene suffered extensive metastasis to her bones. According to the radiologist this was probably due to her radiation treatment. After taking herbs for three days, Gene felt better and had more energy. The pains had lessened significantly to enable her to walk by herself. There was no need for a wheelchair anymore.
