What does radiation therapy mean?

Definitions for radiation therapy
ra·di·a·tion ther·a·py

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word radiation therapy.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. radiotherapy, radiation therapy, radiation, actinotherapy, irradiationnoun

    (medicine) the treatment of disease (especially cancer) by exposure to a radioactive substance

Wiktionary

  1. radiation therapynoun

    The use of ionizing radiation to treat disease, especially cancer.

Wikipedia

  1. Radiation therapy

    Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor (for example, early stages of breast cancer). Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The subspecialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology. A physician who practices in this subspecialty is a radiation oncologist. Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control cell growth. Ionizing radiation works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue leading to cellular death. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs which radiation must pass through to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger absorbed dose there than in the surrounding healthy tissue. Besides the tumour itself, the radiation fields may also include the draining lymph nodes if they are clinically or radiologically involved with the tumor, or if there is thought to be a risk of subclinical malignant spread. It is necessary to include a margin of normal tissue around the tumor to allow for uncertainties in daily set-up and internal tumor motion. These uncertainties can be caused by internal movement (for example, respiration and bladder filling) and movement of external skin marks relative to the tumor position. Radiation oncology is the medical specialty concerned with prescribing radiation, and is distinct from radiology, the use of radiation in medical imaging and diagnosis. Radiation may be prescribed by a radiation oncologist with intent to cure ("curative") or for adjuvant therapy. It may also be used as palliative treatment (where cure is not possible and the aim is for local disease control or symptomatic relief) or as therapeutic treatment (where the therapy has survival benefit and can be curative). It is also common to combine radiation therapy with surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy or some mixture of the four. Most common cancer types can be treated with radiation therapy in some way. The precise treatment intent (curative, adjuvant, neoadjuvant therapeutic, or palliative) will depend on the tumor type, location, and stage, as well as the general health of the patient. Total body irradiation (TBI) is a radiation therapy technique used to prepare the body to receive a bone marrow transplant. Brachytherapy, in which a radioactive source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment, is another form of radiation therapy that minimizes exposure to healthy tissue during procedures to treat cancers of the breast, prostate and other organs. Radiation therapy has several applications in non-malignant conditions, such as the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, acoustic neuromas, severe thyroid eye disease, pterygium, pigmented villonodular synovitis, and prevention of keloid scar growth, vascular restenosis, and heterotopic ossification. The use of radiation therapy in non-malignant conditions is limited partly by worries about the risk of radiation-induced cancers.

ChatGPT

  1. radiation therapy

    Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. The radiation used in this therapy can come from a machine outside the body (external-beam radiation therapy), or it can come from radioactive material placed in the body near cancer cells (internal radiation therapy, also called brachytherapy). Radiation therapy damages cells by destroying the genetic material that controls how cells grow and divide. While both healthy and cancerous cells are damaged by this treatment, the goal of radiation therapy is to destroy as few normal, healthy cells as possible.

Wikidata

  1. Radiation therapy

    Radiation therapy, radiation oncology, or radiotherapy, sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor. Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control cell growth. Ionizing radiation works by damaging the DNA of exposed tissue leading to cellular death. To spare normal tissues, shaped radiation beams are aimed from several angles of exposure to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger absorbed dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue. Besides the tumour itself, the radiation fields may also include the draining lymph nodes if they are clinically or radiologically involved with tumor, or if there is thought to be a risk of subclinical malignant spread. It is necessary to include a margin of normal tissue around the tumor to allow for uncertainties in daily set-up and internal tumor motion. These uncertainties can be caused by internal movement and movement of external skin marks relative to the tumor position.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of radiation therapy in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of radiation therapy in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of radiation therapy in a Sentence

  1. Steve Sosebee:

    Until radiation therapy is permitted, until we can develop a bone marrow transplant department here, some kids do still have to travel outside for treatment.

  2. Cesar Castillo:

    I had to go through a rigorous chemo and radiation therapy and a stem cell transplant, i couldn't concentrate. I couldn't relax. I was really anxious and depressed. All I kept thinking was: 'Here I am, not even 30, being poisoned and fighting for my life.'.

  3. Katherine Raymond:

    It was difficult to determine a treatment plan because most people who have this cancer are geriatric and Fionah was just a baby, it is horrible to watch your baby go through chemo. Nothing prepares you for that. The radiation therapy leaves them with burns. She cried all the time. It was so hard on her.

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"radiation therapy." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 14 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/radiation+therapy>.

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