Hi people. I have been used to think that chemotherapy and radiation therapy are very very similar, however, I would really like to know what is the difference between chemotherapy and radiation therapy because I really doubt that they are the same (otherwise there wouldn’t be a point in having 2 different names). Thank you very much in advance for your responses.
By the way, no, I’m not having cancer, thank god, I’m just intrigued in what is the difference between the 2?
Hello there Twords. Chemotherapy can treat the non cancerous tumors as well as the cancerous tumors too. There are approximately 50 of different chemotherapy drugs and pretty often (most times) some of them are combined in order to help to fight the health condition. There are so many chemotherapy drugs because different cancers are used to be treated with different chemotherapy meds. all of that mostly depends on where the cancer has started, where it is located now and also on how the cancer has formed. Even though the chemotherapy is killing the cancerous tumors it is also, along with the tumors, killing the good white and red blood cells too, this is the reason why most cancer patients that are using the chemotherapy method, need to have some shots that are helping them to increase these counts. The chemotherapy method is given in a certain series of sessions and also a series of sessions in a certain cycle. The main purpose of the chemotherapy is to completely stop the cancer cells from diving and reproducing anymore and it is usually used in some advanced cancer patients in order to get rid of the cancer from the body of that patient, or to shrink it or to control the tumor and in the end to expend the patient’s period of life.
On the other hand, radiation therapy is known to be less severe than chemotherapy, it is using x rays in order to kill the cancer cells in a certain spot of the patient’s body. those rays are applied exactly directly on the tumor instead of running through the blood vessels like chemotherapy does. Also, from the patients reports, it is believed to be less painful than chemotherapy, that’s what they have said. less painful because, of course, chemotherapy has lots of side effects (because, as I said, it also destroys the good blood cells in the patient’s body).
Not sure if this would help you in a way or another, but I really hope that it will, somehow. I wish you good luck and stay safe.