"I've heard that radiation therapy causes hair loss, is that true?" In the elevator, one patient asked another worriedly.
"No, I've heard that radiotherapy is done when there is no way, and the effect is not very good." A family member responded.
Conversations about radiation therapy are not uncommon in hospital patient circles.
Radiotherapy is a common cancer treatment that uses high-energy ionizing radiation to kill or inhibit the growth and division of cancer cells.
Due to the complexity of radiotherapy technology, the invisibility of radiation and the difficulty of intuitive understanding have led to misunderstandings about mysterious radiotherapy.
In this issue, Ge Hong, director of the Department of Radiotherapy of Henan Provincial Cancer Hospital, and Li Dingjie, a physicist, are invited to interpret 9 common misunderstandings about radiotherapy~
Myth 1: Radiation therapy can cause hair loss
Interpretation: Radiotherapy is a means of local treatment. That is, where the tumor grows on the human body, the radiation hits somewhere. Hair will only fall out if the radiation is applied to a brain tumor, and it will grow back after the radiation treatment.
Myth 2: Radiotherapy can damage normal cells
Interpretation: "While radiotherapy kills cancer cells, it also damages many normal cells, so the treatment effect often outweighs the loss. This statement is not unreasonable more than 20 years ago, when conventional radiotherapy did not have CT aiming irradiation, there was no three-dimensional planning system, radiation did not recognize cancer cells and normal cells, and the commonly used high-energy X-ray radiation had the same killing effect on cancer cells and normal cells.
However, today, modern precision radiotherapy technology can make high-energy rays shine on tumors under CT guidance, and advanced algorithms can accurately allocate doses, accurately optimize and evaluate the dose of normal organs, and protect normal organs from being affected to the greatest extent.
Myth 3: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the same time, the body can't stand it
Interpretation: Radiotherapy is a local treatment, and chemotherapy is a systemic treatment. Chemotherapy is like an indiscriminate blow to the whole body, the intensity of the blow is the same in every place, and the target of the attack is "the scattered generals"; However, in some places, there are many "bad elements" gathered in piles and blocks, and at this time it is necessary to double the blow, so you have to send radiotherapy or surgery.
For example, if a patient has lung cancer and has a lump in the lung, chemotherapy drugs are transfused through the blood system to attack cancer cells throughout the body, and at the same time, radiotherapy focuses on attacking the lung mass, so the treatment effect is better.
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are performed at the same time, which will increase the toxic side effects to a certain extent, but this side effect is controllable. The doctor will also pay attention to the patient's physical condition at any time, evaluate and adjust the treatment plan.
Myth 4: The most expensive machine is the best effect
Interpretation: The discipline of radiotherapy is an equipment-dependent discipline, that is, there is a corresponding relationship between the advanced degree of radiotherapy technology and equipment that can be carried out. For example, the development of stereotactic radiotherapy technology requires high mechanical precision of the accelerator and a clear image guidance system; Another example is a small tumor near the brainstem of the cranial brain, which is suitable for Cyberknife treatment.
However, some tumors do not require particularly advanced machines, such as esophageal cancer and tumors in the extremities, and accelerators with basic intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided technology can be treated well. In addition, the earlier the stage of radiation therapy, the less necessary it is to pursue the most advanced treatment machine.
It is recommended to refer to the diagnosis and evaluation of professional doctors to choose the right treatment machine, not the more expensive the treatment machine, the more suitable for you.
Myth 5: Radiation therapy can be painful
Interpretation: Radiotherapy is the use of medical accelerators to emit high-energy rays, through which the "invisible bullet" of radiation destroys cancer cells. The patient will have no wound and will not need anesthesia, so there is no pain during the whole radiotherapy and there is no need to be afraid of tension.
Myth 6: There is radiation in the body after radiotherapy
Interpretation: The radiation generated during treatment is consumed after destroying human cancer cells, and will not stay in the body, and the patient will be separated from the radiation when he leaves the treatment room, and will not affect the health of the people around him after returning.
Myth 7: Radiotherapy is not available until it is in the advanced stage
If you want to have a longer survival, you need radiotherapy + surgery, or chemotherapy + surgery, or radiotherapy + chemotherapy + surgery, which can be radiotherapy followed by surgery, or surgery followed by radiotherapy.
Myth 8: If the tumor metastasizes, it cannot be radiotreated
Interpretation: Due to the small damage of modern precision radiotherapy to normal organs, the precision of radiation and the accurate dose of radiotherapy, precision radiotherapy has a very good therapeutic effect on early tumors, and can also achieve "seeing one by one" for advanced local solid tumors, especially for small volume metastatic solid tumors, which is very suitable for the use of stereotactic radiotherapy technology.
For some patients, palliative radiotherapy can be used to alleviate the pain of the disease, improve the quality of life, and create conditions for further treatment.
Myth 9: Radiotherapy is omnipotent, and any tumor can be treated
Interpretation: About 70% of malignant tumors require radiation therapy at different stages of treatment. However, this also means that not all malignant tumors can be treated with radiotherapy, and some cancer patients are not suitable for radiotherapy, such as large metastases in the abdominal cavity. Therefore, it is best to go through a multidisciplinary consultation and discussion before treatment to choose the most suitable treatment plan.
I hope that through the sharing of this article, we can help you establish a correct understanding of radiotherapy. In the face of tumor treatment, maintain a rational and scientific attitude, choose the most suitable treatment methods and plans, fight the disease, and protect health.
Expert Profile
Ge Hong
Department of Radiation Oncology
Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology of Henan Provincial Cancer Hospital, Director of the Provincial Radiotherapy Center, Director of the Resident Planning and Training Base of the Department of Radiotherapy of the Provincial Cancer Hospital, Chief Physician, Second-level Professor, Doctor and Doctoral Supervisor. Young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions to the National Health Commission, experts enjoying government allowances from the State Council, and famous doctors in the Central Plains. He is currently the vice president of the Radiation Oncology Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a member of the Standing Committee of the Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the chairman of the Radiotherapy Expert Committee of the Henan Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Quality Control Center, the chairman-elect of the Radiotherapy Branch of the Provincial Medical Association, a member of the Radiotherapy Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a member of the editorial board of the Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology, a member of the Standing Committee of the Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment Committee of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, a member of the Standing Committee of the Radiation Protection Committee of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, a member of the Radiotherapy Committee of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, and a member of the Lung Cancer Quality Control Expert Committee of the National Cancer Quality Control Center. Deputy Leader of the Northern China Radiotherapy Collaboration Group. He specializes in the diagnosis of lung cancer, esophageal cancer and thymoma and other thoracic tumors and the comprehensive treatment of radiotherapy, especially in the radiotherapy of lung cancer and esophageal cancer.
Consultation hours: Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon
Li Dingjie
Department of Radiation Oncology
Physicist and deputy chief technician of Henan Radiation Oncology Center, visiting scholar of the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Medical College of Wisconsin in United States, member of the Expert Committee of the National Health Commission, member of the Physics Group and Brachytherapy Group of the Radiation Oncology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, member of the Standing Committee of the Radiation Oncology Branch of the Henan Medical Association, deputy leader of the Physics Group, member of the Standing Committee of the Radiation Therapy Branch of the Chinese Society of Radiation Protection, member of the Standing Committee of the Radiotherapy Technology Branch of the Chinese Association of Medical Equipment, member of the Medical Physics Branch of the Chinese Nuclear Society, He is the chairman of the Intelligent and Precise Radiotherapy Special Committee of the Henan Graphic and Image Society, a radiation health expert and a radiotherapy quality control expert of the Provincial Health Commission, an editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology, and a youth editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Cancer Prevention and Control. He is good at the design of external beam radiotherapy plans such as three-dimensional conformal intensity-modulation, rotational intensity-modulation, adaptive radiotherapy, ultra-high dose rate radiotherapy (FFF), image processing such as CT, MRI, PET-CT, and special radiotherapy technologies such as whole-body radiotherapy, intraoperative radiotherapy, and endoluminal radiotherapy. His research interests include program design, image processing, radiotherapy-related equipment and patient radiotherapy dose quality assurance, radiation protection, etc. The application research of new radiotherapy technology has won 3 second prizes of the Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, two provincial medical new technology introduction awards, presided over two scientific research projects, and published more than 30 academic papers in SCI, Chinese series and Chinese core journals.
Source: Henan Provincial Cancer Hospital