The treatment of cancer – Oncology.

Even today, after so many forms of treatment have been discovered and invented and are being implemented, cancer still instils fear into the hearts of patients and their relatives alike as it is so lethal a disease. However, the advent of radiation therapy has brought about a drastic improvement in the health of post-cancer-detected patients.

Radiation therapy in Oncology or in short RTx or RT, is the practice of using ionising radiations on the tumours or the cancer - affected cells of the human body in order to destroy and eliminate them from the body. In Noida, radiation therapy can be prescribed by any specialised oncologist. However the intent of the treatment will differ with respect to the type of the tumour, the location and most importantly, the stage of the tumour. If the tumour has a scope of being completely cured, it is treated under curative therapy. This form of therapy is also termed as adjuvant therapy. Palliative therapy, on the other hand, is that form of treatment which is reserved for those cases in which the tumours will not be cured entirely. In that case, what can be done is that the radiation therapy should be intended only to localise the cancerous cells. The main motive in this case would be to make sure that the malignancy does not spread to other parts of the normal healthy body.

In Noida, another very recent form of treatment has developed. It is known as brachytherapy - a distinct form of therapy, in which the source of radiation is placed near the diseased part of the body in order to prevent the spread of the radiation to normal and healthy parts of the body. This just goes on to show that cancer is not invincible. Perhaps, the day is not very far when it can be completely cured, whatever the stage of the malignancy it may be. By- Rounak Bose