Eli5 How does radiation therapy actually work? Like how doesnt it break down more of the body and make the cancer worse or something like that? And does it target only cancer area or everything?
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radiation therapy can be aimed to some degree or another, but generally the damage is less damaging then the cancer
There is a really good explanation of how it targets on a video about the guy who stuck his head in a particle collider. I wish I had the link but there is a short doc. About it and it goes into depth about the ability to tune very precisely where the radiation hits in the body.
A friend of mine got cancer in his tongue and had to do radiation after the surgery. He had to use a special toothpaste for the rest of his life because of the increased risk of tooth decay.
More on that: http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/books/oral-dental-care/how-will-radiation-affect-my-teeth
Unfortunately it still spread to his lymph nodes in his neck and took him after 4 years.
Miss you, Chris.
Radiation: the ultimate bully targeting cancer cells that are already weak and defenseless.
Radiation: a necessary evil like broccoli. Targets cancer cells, but sometimes hits innocent bystanders.
Modern radiotherapy takes several forms including the gamma knife and proton beam. These advanced forms can really target the tumor much much more than the surrounding healthy tissue. Even with older kinds of radiotherapy the beam path is divided into multiple less energetic beams which intersect in the tumor and reduce damage to healthy tissues.
Whichever type is used the radiation fragments the DNA of the cells, with cells that are rapidly dividing and those that have reduced ability to repair their DNA (both features of cancer) being more susceptible.
Ultimately the immune system plays a significant role in mediating the response to radiotherapy. The radiation-induced damage causes cells to be stressed, and allows them to be recognized by the immune system, especially by NK cells which can help induce broader immune responses to cancer.
Just occasionally the immune system does such a good job after being alerted to the tumor by radiotherapy that tumors everywhere including those that never were irradiated shrink and disappear. On rare occasions the patient is cured.
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