When is radiation therapy used to treat cancer and when is chemotherapy used?

I'm trying to figure out when radiation therapy is used to treat cancer opposed to chemotherapy. Are there certain types of cancer that one of the other is used on? Or is it a matter of have cancer widespread throughout the body, opposed to having cancer in a small area?

it depends on the cancer, a little bit on the location as well. there are kinds of cancer that respond well to radiation, others don't at all. and there's always to be taken into consideration how much damage you do to the healthy tissue around the area in comparison to how much good you can do with it.

Both are used in many types of cancer.Radiation alone if surgery and chemo are not possible or useful (e.g., some brain cancers).Radiation cannot be used if the site of the cancer was previously radiated. Also when there is no defined or specific tumor site (e.g. blood cancers, unknown primary).Ideally, they can hit the cancer with all 3 methods: surgery, chemo, and radiation. Each attacks the cancer in a different way.

Usually the cancer is biopsied with surgery to determine type. Next a scan is done to determine extent. After that usually a bone marrow biopsy. Then with the extent, location, and type the treatment is decided. Could be any combination of chemo, radiation and surgery.

Click on a topic below to begin your session on radiation therapy:How Does Radiation Therapy Work? Radiation Therapy Simulation and Planning What a Person Experiences, What to Expect During a Radiation Treatment Session Side Effects of Radiation Therapy Who are the Professionals in Radiation Therapy? History of Radiation Therapy Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Breast Cancer Intra-Operative Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment More information on Radiation Therapy READ MOREhttp://www.imaginis.com/radiotherapy/

Before manking any radical decisions on treatment, there is a new book available from jennihei@yahoo.com called CANCER DIAGNOSIS - A New Perspective - What Do I Do Now? This may help to get the whole idea of cancer into perspective.

Radiation therapy can be used both as sole regimen or as an adjunct to other regimen such as chemotherapy & surgery. When used alone, radiation therapy can be curative (where the goal is to eliminate all signs of cancer) & palliative (which relieves symptoms, including pain). When combined with other treatments, it can shrink a tumor before surgery, make tumors more receptive to chemotherapy drugs and make sure that all cancer cells are killed after surgery. It can also be given in areas that do not have evidence of cancer. This is done to prevent cancer cells from growing in the area receiving the radiation. This technique is called prophylactic radiation therapy.Radiation therapy may be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, though the dose & whether it is given alone depends on a number of factors, including the type of cancer and whether there are tissues and organs nearby that may be damaged by radiation.