Difference Between Radiation and Chemotherapy
Cancer is spreading with each day passed and everyday people are dying because of that. There are different types of cancers, while some are treatable, others are not. Some types can be treated using chemotherapy alone but on several occasion, patient need radiotherapy and surgery as well.
However, we need to understand that there is a difference between radiation and chemotherapy. Although both are used for treating cancer, there procedure is different and they are used for different treatments. And one must be aware of these minor details if they are looking for these treatments for cancer.
Instructions
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Radiation
Radiation is used to destroy the cancer cells in a human body. It can be used to kill those cells no matter whether they are in breast, chest wall or lymph nodes after some kind of surgery. When we talk about radiation, it is referred to as a local kind of treatment and is mainly used to treat cancer in the breast are. Radiation treatments are given for up to 7 weeks and it is given 5 days a week. And the main reason why people go for radiation treatment is to kill the cancer cells and save the breast at the same time. In addition to that, radiation treatment is also very affective and if there is a need to kill some kind of tumour in the body which has exceeded 5 cm in size.
The question is how radiation works. It is actually a high-energy beam or rays that can destroy the cancer cells. It is also used to slow the growth of such cells.
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Chemotherapy
Radiation is usually limited to the breast area but if there is a case when the cancer cells may have spread beyond the breast and are affecting nearby tissues, chemotherapy comes into consideration. When using Chemotherapy, it is directly delivered into the vein. The purpose for doing that is to make is effective in such a way that it could travel easily throughout the entire body that is affected by the cancer cells. Unlike radiation, chemotherapy is given in cycles and only professional doctors are allowed to use this. There is usually a recovery period between chemotherapy treatments. These treatments are usually spaced out between three to four weeks but in extreme circumstances, doctors give more chemotherapy and it also depends on the drugs that are being used.
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