eli5: How does radiation both cause and cure cancer? I know it can be targeted, but I still don’t understand how it’s not causing cancer at it’s target? How does chemo work? And how does chemo and radiation work together?

Question

Sorry if the flair is wrong. Biology or chemistry?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Cancer is caused when a single ray of radiation hits your DNA, causes a bad mutation, and sets off a chain of events of monstrous proportions.

Cancer is treated with fatal doses of radiation that destroy DNA. They are causing damage on a large scale, turning the recipe for life into alphabet soup. I don’t know this term is scientifically correct in terms of the energy level — this radiation bombardment cooks the cancer cells.

Doesnt radiation cause cancer? Yes, in low doses and at a low rate of probability. Only very specific mutations can lead to cancer. In most cases the damage is discovered and repaired. Or the change is not “perfect sabotage” to make the cell go out of control. Most cells know when they are very sick; they literally ask to be killed.

For example, you could go to friends computer and install spyware. This is like cancer. If you go and wipe out his hard drive, his computer won’t boot and definitely your spyware won’t do anything. It’s dead, too.