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Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle accelerator .
Radiation therapy (radiotherapy) is the use of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors by damaging their DNA causing cellular death. [9] Radiation therapy can either damage DNA directly or create charged particles ( free radicals ) within the cells that can in turn damage the DNA.
In theory BNCT is a highly selective type of radiation therapy that can target tumor cells without causing radiation damage to the adjacent normal cells and tissues. Doses up to 60–70 grays (Gy) can be delivered to the tumor cells in one or two applications compared to 6–7 weeks for conventional fractionated external beam photon irradiation.
Radiation hormesis is the conjecture that a low level of ionizing radiation (i.e., near the level of Earth's natural background radiation) helps "immunize" cells against DNA damage from other causes (such as free radicals or larger doses of ionizing radiation), and decreases the risk of cancer. The theory proposes that such low levels activate ...
Radiation therapy kills cancer cells in two ways depending on the effective energy of the radiative source. The amount of energy deposited as the particles traverse a section of tissue is referred to as the linear energy transfer (LET). X-rays produce low LET radiation, and protons and neutrons produce high LET radiation.
Radiation can have harmful effects on solid materials as it can degrade their properties so that they are no longer mechanically sound. This is of special concern as it can greatly affect their ability to perform in nuclear reactors and is the emphasis of radiation material science , which seeks to mitigate this danger.
Traditional cancer therapies, which include radiation, surgery to remove most of the tumor, and chemotherapy to kill any rapidly growing cells, are sometimes effective but are both expensive and ...
The human body contains many types of cells and a human can be killed by the loss of a single tissue in a vital organ [citation needed]. For many short term radiation deaths (3 days to 30 days) the loss of cells forming blood cells (bone marrow) and the cells in the digestive system (wall of the intestines) cause death.