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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 .
Electron beam therapy is used in the treatment of superficial tumors like cancer of skin regions, or total skin (e.g. mycosis fungoides), diseases of the limbs (e.g. melanoma and lymphoma), nodal irradiation, and it may also be used to boost the radiation dose to the surgical bed after mastectomy or lumpectomy.
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in humans. [11] [12] [13] There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC), squamous-cell skin cancer (SCC) and melanoma. [1] The first two, along with a number of less common skin cancers, are known as nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC).
Radiation dermatitis, in the form of intense erythema and vesiculation of the skin, may be observed in radiation ports. [3]: 131 As many as 95% of patients treated with radiation therapy for cancer will experience a skin reaction. Some reactions are immediate, while others may be later (e.g., months after treatment). [6]
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 ...
In medicine, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often to treat cancer.The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam radiotherapy is that the dose of protons is deposited over a narrow range of depth; hence in minimal entry, exit, or scattered radiation dose to healthy ...
Ionizing radiation is generally harmful and potentially lethal to living things but can have health benefits in radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer and thyrotoxicosis. Its most common impact is the induction of cancer with a latent period of years or decades after exposure.
A specific thickness of bolus can be applied to the skin to alter the dose received at depth in the tissue and on the skin surface. A typical example of this is the application of a defined thickness of bolus to a chest wall for post-mastectomy chest wall treatment, to increase the skin dose.