SUPPORT OF EFFECTIVE RADIOTHERAPY

Support of Effective Radiotherapy

Support of Effective Radiotherapy

Introduction

Ever since the discovery of radiotherapy back in 1895, it has been debated whether it is completely safe, and whether it is worth all the risks. Really, the question all these years has been whether the chance of getting cured from cancer is worthy enough to risk the dangers, risks, and drawbacks of radiotherapy. It is this dilemma which will be looked at, in order to tell you whether radiotherapy is worth it, or too risky.

Support of Effective Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy dates all the way back to the initial discovery of X-rays which was by someone named Rontgen, and of the discovery of substances like uranium by Becquerel, in 1895 and 1896 respectively. These then eventually led to the discovery of radium by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.

The first time radiotherapy was used to try and cure breast cancer was within a few months of its discovery, in the United States of America. More tests followed soon in Germany, Austria, and France. However, the loss of hair from the patients quickly alerted the medical community to potential harmful side effects. The first report of successful treatment by X-ray was of a skin cancer in 1899. After Becquerel had been burned by a test tube containing radium, experimenting started using radium, and in 1903 the first successful treatment of skin cancer using radium was recorded. Even though there were early signs of danger, the proper protection of employees was not taken seriously until the 1930's, and not done properly until even later then that. It was so serious, that in 1920 it was still recommended for a doctor to check by the redness of his own skin to dose the appropriate amount of radium. (Ash, 1999, 215)

In 1941, pluntionium-239 was discovered. From this point on it was possible to use man-made isotopes for radiotherapy. The gamma rays which these new isotopes emitted could be directed at a tumor through a tube or needle, making them safer than X-rays, since the energy of the gamma rays is a lot lower. In recent years radiologists involved in radiotherapy have expanded their activities to include the use of radioisotopes and also the combination of radiotherapy with a variety of chemotherapeutic drugs or with hormones in the treatment of cancer. This specialty is now termed, 'radiation oncology'. (Williams, 2003)

The linear accelerator has a special kind of shutters made from lead, called collimator, which are adjusted in such a way to direct the beam to the targeted tumor. (Williams, 2003)

Aside from this traditional method with X-rays, recently two new methods involving the use of gamma rays have been developed. Gamma rays are produced immediately as several different elements such as radium or uranium decay or decompose, in which they release radiation. Each element decays at a specific rate and gives off energy in the form of gamma rays and other particles. X-rays and gamma rays have the same effect on cancer ...