Radiation Therapy

Additional Details

Radiation therapy is the treatment of cancer using penetrating beams of high energy waves or streams of particles called radiation. Radiation therapy basically can be given in two different ways: teletherapy ("long distance therapy") and brachytherapy ("short distance therapy"). Teletherapy is the most common form of radiation treatment. A very high energy machine is used to generate different kinds of radiation that are aimed at a tumor from a distance (i.e., the machine would not touch the tumor). The more capable the machine, the more precisely a treatment plan can be tailored to your needs. The most sophisticated teletherapy machine is a Linear Accelerator.