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Radiation Therapy Research Paper

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Radiation Therapy In 1896, German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength known as the x-ray. Within three years of his discovery, radiation became used to treat cancer after Henri Bacquerel discovered radium’s ability to kill skin cells due to its radioactivity. The first person to experiment with cancer cells was Henri Danlus, a French doctor. Pierre Curie simultaneously researched and experimented with cancerous cells, and both men came to the same conclusion: radiation not only kills skin cells, yet it kills cancer cells as well. However, contrary to skin cells, cancer cells do not have the ability to regrow. This form of treatment using radiation to exterminate cancer …show more content…

Both types of treatment cause common side effects, yet the severity of the symptom varies depending on where radiation therapy was used in order to eradicate the cancer. Neutrons, used in particle radiation, are much harsher than protons and electrons because they have 20 to 100 times as much energy (Neutron therapy: A rare and special kind of radiation. (n.d.). However, fast moving neutrons such as those produced by a nuclear fission have so much energy due to the splitting of atoms in a nuclear reactor that it then becomes destructive to human tissue, causing serious health effects (Nuclear radiation and health effects. 2015). ATRSO, the American Society for Therapeutic and Radiation Oncology, stated in their review of proton therapy, “while proton beam therapy is not a new technology, its use in the treatment of prostate cancer is evolving” and other types of cancer as well (Use of proton beam therapy for prostate cancer. 2013, February 1). Feeling emotionally, physically and mentally fatigued is not only a common side effect of cancer, yet experienced by patients undergoing treatment as well. Skin problems and irritation may also occur as a result of radiation therapy, where the skin around the treatment area may become red, …show more content…

First, radiation can damage the normal cells in the body, and depending on the location, it can effect a person’s ability to perform certain tasks. For example, radiation to the abdomen or pelvis can lead to bowel, bladder, infertility, or sexual problems. According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, “…only 28% of men with normal erectile function maintained normal erectile function after therapy.” This means a shocking 72% of men who received radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer weren’t able to function as easily as before. Radiation can also cause fluid build-up and swelling in certain parts of the body; this is called lymphedema. Furthermore, radiation treatment has been linked to an increased probability of developing a second cancer due to the negative effects of radiation. The subsequent cancer is caused by damage inflicted upon the healthy tissue, and may develop years after treatment, however, over many years scientists have refined and improved radiation therapy to reduce the probability of this. Luis Munoz, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Texas Oncology-Medical City of Dallas testified to this saying, “Today radiation therapy is faster, safer, and more precise for patients than ever

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