What Are The Biological Advantages and Disadvantages of Radiations
Answers
Explanation:
Radiation therapy is one of the most popular forms of treatment because of its ability to kill cancer cells and prevent tumors from growing. Radiation can also work alone or with other forms of therapy. For example, it's common to undergo radiation to shrink a tumor, then have surgery to remove it completely.
Tissues may respond differently to high- and low-LET radiations for two known reasons: the oxygen-enhancement ratio (OER) is less for high-LET radiation, and the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) varies with cell mitotic stage. If a large fraction of the tumor-cell population is hypoxic, or if a small fraction does not reoxygenate and remains hypoxic throughout a course of fractionated radiotherapy, then high-LET beams would be more effective than low. The comparative distribution of cells in relatively radioresistant phases of the division cycle in tumor and critical normal tissues may determine whether high-LET radiation will offer a therapeutic advantage or disadvantage.