Cancer is chaotic, unpredictable, messy.
Your cancer treatment
shouldn't be.
Radiation Therapy in Focus is designed to raise awareness of radiation therapy's value and help people focus on high quality cancer care options. We want you to know about the effective, targeted and precise treatments available for people living with cancer.
Stories
Hear patients and radiation oncologists discuss the curative benefits of radiation therapy in our video series. You'll hear impactful personal stories from patients about the role radiation therapy played in their cancer journey and better understand the science and precision behind radiation therapy from doctors passionate about this cancer treatment approach.
A focus on what radiation therapy really is:
Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses strong energy beams to destroy cancer cells or stop them from growing. It can be used as a treatment by itself or paired with other cancer treatments such as surgery or systemic therapies like chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy has come a long way since its invention in the late 19th century. Today, doctors can pinpoint the treatment area within a single millimeter. That’s about the size of a sharp pencil point.
Doctors can aim radiation beams from outside the body precisely at the cancer or place a small radioactive source inside the body near the cancer to deliver the treatment directly.
Treatment is cumulative and usually happens over several sessions, giving healthy cells a break between doses while still maximizing the impact on the cancer cells. This means side effects may not start right away, but can continue for a few weeks following the end of treatment.
View our other videos, brochures and "Ask a Radiation Oncologist" series to learn more about radiation therapy.
Radiation Therapy Education
Check out our Patient Education library with answers to frequently asked questions, information on what to expect, the safety of radiation therapy and questions to ask your doctor. You can also learn more about radiation therapy for specific types of cancer.
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