Can A Radiology Technician Work In Radiation Therapy?

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A radiology technician is required to apply the radiation treatment to the area of the body that has the cancer. This radiology profession is tailor made for working in the field of radiation therapy.

What is Radiation Therapy?

Radiation therapy is actually a treatment for certain types of cancer. This treatment requires that high concentrations of radioactive beams be concentrated on the area of the body that is affected by the cancer.

When you hear the phrase radiation therapy the other person is more than likely talking about the form of treatment where an external machine is used to direct radioactive ways at a localized portion of the body.

Radiation is used as a cancer treatment because it causes the cells that it is directed at to change the way they grow and divide inside the body. This means it can alter the cancer cells where they cannot grow and divide, and thus slow the progression, and at times totally eliminate the cancer. The biggest drawback is that all healthy cells that are exposed to the treatment will also be damaged. The radiation therapist attempts to direct the radiation whereas few normal cells as possible will be affected.

How Radiation Therapy is Applied

More than half the people who are diagnosed with cancer are treated at some point with radiation therapy. The radiology technician receives orders from an oncologist to perform a prescribed amount of treatment for a specific amount of time.
This type of treatment is applied in the hopes of doing several different things. Some of the more common times that this treatment is ordered are:

*As the treatment of the cancer, often this is the only cancer treatment the patient will receive

*Before a patient has surgery to remove the cancerous tumor the doctor may order these treatments in order to attempt to shrink the size of the tumor

*A great deal of the time people who are receiving chemotherapy are also given this treatment in an attempt to stop the progression of cancerous cells

*When a patient has cancer that has reached the advanced stages the treatment is sometimes ordered to help alleviate the symptoms the disease is causing

This treatment is not without side effects and risks to the patient. The doctor and the rest of the medical team that are in charge of a patients treatment have to carefully consider the option of using this treatment.
Because of the amount of success that has been achieved with this treatment there is a great demand for a radiology technician that dedicates themselves to working with this treatment.


About the Author:
Thinking about becoming a radiology technician? This is a very in-demand job right now. Find out what the typical radiologist hourly salary is from http://www.radiologytechniciansalarydata.com



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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