How Radiation Therapy Works

Professor Rubens Belfort Neto, MD, PhD, explains how radiation works in the treatment of uveal melanoma.

How Radiation Therapy Works

 

Radiation is one of the most common treatments for cancer. Other names for radiation therapy are radiotherapy or irradiation.

For the treatment of uveal melanoma different mechanisms of radiotherapy are available, namely brachytherapy (where a plaque with radiation is placed in direct contact with the area of the eye where the cancer is) or proton beam therapy, that works by directing high amounts of energy to the cancer.

Radiation acts by damaging the cells, stopping their division. Since cancer cells grow and divide faster than most normal cells, nearby normal cells are less affected by radiation.

See the video below to know more.

 

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