Radiation does kill cancer cells or damages them beyond repair. Sometimes it does cause a different cancer than the one you’ve been treated for, but that happens many years down the road, if at all, and is usually in the form of a lymphoma, from the people I’ve known anyway. It is not painful, unless you end up with burns from it. Many do, many don’t. I didn’t have any pain or burns from it and mine was 5 days a week for 6 weeks, with the last week being a "boost", which is an stronger dose of radiation. It has damaged my thyroid, but no cancer and it has damaged by saliva glands, only minorly at least. The treatment itself takes all of 3 minutes and you’re done.
Rarar, my chemo was in pill form, so it comes in many different forms. Also my radiation did use my chemo to make the cancer cells more susceptible to the effects of the radiation..besides the question didn’t mention them being the same…
Caolan C on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
radiation kills cancer, however prolonged exposure creates cancer. Being treated for Cancer is not enough to contract another one.
HD on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
Chemotherapy isn’t radiation therapy. It’s chemical therapy.
Priceless12 on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
Its mentally painful.
During the treatment the patient gets easily irritated, angry.
newton3010 on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
chemotherapy works by pumping the body with dyes and other chemicals that cancerous cells pick up and hold on to making them easier to target. then the radion similar to a microwave basicly cooks these areas thereby destryng the cancer.
does radiation cause cancer? yes indeed it does. but it doenst contradict becuse it’s like the difference between the sun and a laser. they both hurt but it depends on how long you’re exposed to them.
Princess Me :) on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
Radiation does cause cancer but killling cells.
so they did exactly that, they use radiation to kill cell, but the cancer cells
its kind of a contradiction, but its genious.
it is really painful, but only because after many teatments it burn the skin..
by the way, im only 15 and i know this. i dont have cancer (thank god) and none of my friends of family members have it either (thank god)
the reason i know this is because i want to be a Pediatric Oncologist. :)
Meg on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
Radiotherapy is not painful. SOMETIMES it can burn the skin causing pain that way but often it is no worse than sunburn, if even that bad.
Rararabiebz on
June 1, 2011 at
8:44 am
First off, chemotherapy doesn’t use radiation, radiation therapy does. Haha. Chemo is the injection of anti-cancer drugs, usually intravenously.
And I’ve never really thought about that but no, because it’s long term exposure to certain types of radiations that cause cancer (such as UV rays and x rays). Radiation, normally, kills cells which is why it’s so harmful in other ways, but it’s when the radiation cause a cell to mutate rather than die that it’s can become cancerous. Not all types of cause it, and I guess radiation therapy is one of them.
Radiation therapy delivers high doses of radiation directly to the cancerous area, which kills the cancer cells, hopefully. This method of treatment does have the highest rate of recurrence though, and perhaps it has something to do with what you’re getting at? I really don’t know, I should but I don’t.
And yes, depending on the patient, it can be really painful, but not in the way that you’re probably thinking. It does not actually hurt a lot at the time that they’re doing it (extreme discomfort at most) but afterwards the side affects can be horrible. The most common things are pains in the targeted area, fatigue, loss of sexual feelings, hair loss, and depression, but can be a lot more severe than that. The worst case scenario is when the patient has to go into palliative care, which pretty much takes away any chance that they might have at a somewhat normal life (my mum was in it for the last three months before she died, so I know it’s horrible) It’s pretty much the same for chemo as well.
8 comments
april on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Radiation does kill cancer cells or damages them beyond repair. Sometimes it does cause a different cancer than the one you’ve been treated for, but that happens many years down the road, if at all, and is usually in the form of a lymphoma, from the people I’ve known anyway. It is not painful, unless you end up with burns from it. Many do, many don’t. I didn’t have any pain or burns from it and mine was 5 days a week for 6 weeks, with the last week being a "boost", which is an stronger dose of radiation. It has damaged my thyroid, but no cancer and it has damaged by saliva glands, only minorly at least. The treatment itself takes all of 3 minutes and you’re done.
Rarar, my chemo was in pill form, so it comes in many different forms. Also my radiation did use my chemo to make the cancer cells more susceptible to the effects of the radiation..besides the question didn’t mention them being the same…
Caolan C on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
radiation kills cancer, however prolonged exposure creates cancer. Being treated for Cancer is not enough to contract another one.
HD on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Chemotherapy isn’t radiation therapy. It’s chemical therapy.
Priceless12 on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Its mentally painful.
During the treatment the patient gets easily irritated, angry.
newton3010 on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
chemotherapy works by pumping the body with dyes and other chemicals that cancerous cells pick up and hold on to making them easier to target. then the radion similar to a microwave basicly cooks these areas thereby destryng the cancer.
does radiation cause cancer? yes indeed it does. but it doenst contradict becuse it’s like the difference between the sun and a laser. they both hurt but it depends on how long you’re exposed to them.
Princess Me :) on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Radiation does cause cancer but killling cells.
so they did exactly that, they use radiation to kill cell, but the cancer cells
its kind of a contradiction, but its genious.
it is really painful, but only because after many teatments it burn the skin..
by the way, im only 15 and i know this. i dont have cancer (thank god) and none of my friends of family members have it either (thank god)
the reason i know this is because i want to be a Pediatric Oncologist. :)
Meg on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
Radiotherapy is not painful. SOMETIMES it can burn the skin causing pain that way but often it is no worse than sunburn, if even that bad.
Rararabiebz on June 1, 2011 at 8:44 am
First off, chemotherapy doesn’t use radiation, radiation therapy does. Haha. Chemo is the injection of anti-cancer drugs, usually intravenously.
And I’ve never really thought about that but no, because it’s long term exposure to certain types of radiations that cause cancer (such as UV rays and x rays). Radiation, normally, kills cells which is why it’s so harmful in other ways, but it’s when the radiation cause a cell to mutate rather than die that it’s can become cancerous. Not all types of cause it, and I guess radiation therapy is one of them.
Radiation therapy delivers high doses of radiation directly to the cancerous area, which kills the cancer cells, hopefully. This method of treatment does have the highest rate of recurrence though, and perhaps it has something to do with what you’re getting at? I really don’t know, I should but I don’t.
And yes, depending on the patient, it can be really painful, but not in the way that you’re probably thinking. It does not actually hurt a lot at the time that they’re doing it (extreme discomfort at most) but afterwards the side affects can be horrible. The most common things are pains in the targeted area, fatigue, loss of sexual feelings, hair loss, and depression, but can be a lot more severe than that. The worst case scenario is when the patient has to go into palliative care, which pretty much takes away any chance that they might have at a somewhat normal life (my mum was in it for the last three months before she died, so I know it’s horrible) It’s pretty much the same for chemo as well.
Hope that helps! :)