Brachytherapy: Radiation And Cancer Treatment

Radiation and Cancer Treatment

Cancer, or the the disease in which one’s cells abnormally and uncontrollably divide in a certain part of the body, results in the form of tumors or malignant growths. “In 2015, an estimated 1,658,370 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 589,430 people will die from the disease.”(National Cancer Institute). From the mere discovery of the x-ray, discovered by Bertha Roentgen, which able to show the image of the skeletal structure within his hand, to the establishment of the Breast Brachytherapy, which is a common treatment today, the fight against cancer evolves. However, with all the breakthroughs made in the field one question remains: is radiation therapy truly an effective treatment

Brachytherapy is the method of implanting radiation into the precise location of the cancer cells. The radiation is implanted with seeds or capsules filled with different types of radiation. According to the Cancer treatments of America, A computer controls how long these capsules stay in place, how long it is inserted and when it should pause to release the radiation. This method of treatment is used to treat “Prostate cancer, Breast cancer, Lung cancer, Esophageal cancer, Gynecologic cancers, Anal/Rectal tumors, Sarcomas, Head and neck cancers.” According to the American Brachytherapy Society, the procedure comes with short term side effects such as slight bleeding and Long term side effects such as impotence, which usually affects patients over the age of 70 and older. Also concerns include radiation that may be released when a seed is passed through the urine, however, because it emits low doses of radiation it has little effect on an individual yet may directly affect women who are pregnant and

As the Royal Society of Chemistry Radioisotopes, are typically bonded to an antibody that binds to cancer cells, and as the isotope decays it “ionises” with the DNA stopping the tumor’s growth short. before, doctors used radioisotope lutetium- 177, that has a half life of six days. This seems promising because its life span allows it to remain still “hot” when it reaches the hospital. However, the problem with this is that because of its half- life, doctors are concerned that it hangs around, causing problems in the future for patients. Luckily,”But now Konstantin Zhernosekov of the Technical University of Munich, Germany, and colleagues have produced a radioisotope that appears even more promising than lutetium-177: terbium.” This is because terbium-161 has a half life of seven days,which emits “two extra low- energy Auger electrons” meaning that compared to lutetium- 171, kills cancer cells faster. This is also promising because terbium 161 emits a low amount of “emits a number of low-energy electrons upon decay, which should make it useful for treating small tumours.” In addition, the study of radioisotopes is ever evolving, as doctors try to find the least harmful tyoe of radioisotope