Radiotherapy is our usual method of radiotherapy for tumors. It is the use of radiation to kill the tumor, is a major treatment of malignant tumors. About 75% of cancer patients need radiation therapy in the course of their treatment. Radiotherapy has good curative effect on head and neck tumors and reproductive system tumors. For some advanced tumor patients, it also has the functions of analgesia and hemostasis. It can relieve the pain of patients and improve the quality of life of patients. But for radiotherapy, we often have the following misunderstandings:
Misunderstanding 1: I have a malignant tumor, the doctor recommended radiotherapy, but radiation on the human body will have certain damage, unwilling to radiotherapy.
In fact, in the process of clinical radiotherapy, radiation will inevitably affect the normal tissues of the human body, causing certain radiation reactions and injuries. However, these patients of radiation reaction and damage did not have too much tension, because the current radiotherapy equipment and technology has been able to achieve "three" - precise irradiation.
In the professional treatment planning in radiotherapy, the doctor will use a variety of means to avoid the risk of organ exposure, so that even if the normal tissue is inevitable to receive radiation related side effects can be controlled in a certain range. Moreover, in the process of radiotherapy, radiotherapy doctor will according to the specific circumstances of each patient, to give different treatment intensity, and treatment according to different purposes, such as radical, adjuvant and palliative, given to patients with different range of irradiation and irradiation dose, as far as possible side effects to a minimum.
Myth two: Although I have a malignant tumor, it has been surgically removed and does not require radiotherapy.
Many patients thought the operation had removed the tumor and cured the cancer. In fact, the tumor cells like weeds "seed", even if the doctor is careful resection of the tumor, "seeds" may also be in the process of spreading to the adjacent land, probably through the lymphatic or blood spread to the body. Therefore, only through the "extermination", further radiotherapy can completely cure cancer.
Myth three: tumor metastasis can not be cured.
In fact, in our opinion, the location of tumor metastasis is different and the treatment is different. Some patients can stabilize the disease by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the survival time can be prolonged. A part of the patient can also be removed by removal of the site to achieve a two curative effect. Some patients, through palliative radiotherapy, can reduce patient distress, improve quality of life, and provide conditions for further treatment.
Myth four: radiotherapy is an adjuvant, only for patients with advanced cancer.
It must be emphasized that the new concept of radiotherapy is that early modern radiotherapy can achieve radical cure, such as early lung cancer, which can be similar or even better treatment by radiotherapy. As we mentioned earlier, tumors in the head and neck, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma and early laryngeal cancer, can be cured by radiotherapy. Early cancers of the esophagus and reproductive system can also be cured by radiotherapy.
Warm tip: to remind you here, for cancer patients, the first standardized treatment is very important. Irregular treatment can lead to a recurrence of the tumor, which can make it difficult to treat. Therefore, we must choose to the comprehensive tumor hospital. Once a patient is diagnosed with a tumor, he or she may consult a professional doctor at both the oncology and radiation oncology departments to obtain the best and most appropriate treatment recommendations.