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Cobalt therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer. Beginning in the 1950s, cobalt-60 was widely used in external beam radiotherapy (teletherapy) machines, which produced a beam of gamma rays which was directed into the patient's body to kill tumor tissue.
For comparison, the average background radiation in the United States is 310 mrem (3 mSv) a year. Chronic doses above 20 rem (0.2 Sv) increase the risk of cancer. Acute doses of 500 rem (5 Sv) kill half of those affected without medical treatment. [14] Chronic doses (received over a longer period of time) are less damaging than acute doses. [15]
Between 1958 and 1972, the Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio became the first hospital in Central Ohio to develop an extensive cobalt therapy program, where the use of cobalt-60 became the dominant radiation source for treating patients with cancer. In 1973, 30-year-old Joel Axt was hired by the hospital as the resident physicist ...
External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a form of radiotherapy that utilizes a high-energy collimated beam of ionizing radiation, from a source outside the body, to target and kill cancer cells. The radiotherapy beam is composed of particles, which are focussed in a particular direction of travel using collimators. [ 1 ]
Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, [1] that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy), it is usually used to treat cancer.
Di Bella Therapy – a cocktail of vitamins, drugs and hormones devised by Luigi di Bella (1912–2003) and promoted as a cancer treatment. According to the American Cancer Society: "Available scientific evidence does not support claims that Di Bella therapy is effective in treating cancer. It can cause serious and harmful side effects. ...
Body sites in which brachytherapy can be used to treat cancer. Brachytherapy is commonly used to treat cancers of the cervix, prostate, breast, and skin. [1]Brachytherapy can also be used in the treatment of tumours of the brain, eye, head and neck region (lip, floor of mouth, tongue, nasopharynx and oropharynx), [10] respiratory tract (trachea and bronchi), digestive tract (oesophagus, gall ...
1900 – Swedish Dr. Stenbeck cures a skin cancer with small doses of radiation [4]; 1920s – Dr. William B. Coley's immunotherapy treatment, regressed tumors in hundreds of cases, the success of Coley's Toxins attracted heavy resistance from his rival and supervisor, Dr. James Ewing, who was an ardent supporter of radiation therapy for cancer.