The difference between radiotherapy and chemotherapy

There are many types of diseases that can be treated, and different treatment methods are very different in use. So how to treat the disease best depends on the patient's condition. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are common treatment methods. These treatments are more harmful to the patient's body, but they must be chosen for the treatment of some special diseases. So what is the difference between radiotherapy and chemotherapy?

Many people do not fully understand the difference between radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, when treating diseases, they are not very clear about these treatment methods, so when choosing, they do not know how to proceed.

The difference between radiotherapy and chemotherapy:

Radiotherapy, the abbreviation of radiation therapy, is a method of treating malignant tumors using radiation produced by radioisotopes and various radiation therapy machines or accelerators. Radiation therapy generally targets specific areas of the body and can be divided into external beam radiation and internal beam radiation. There will be some side effects after radiotherapy, including fatigue, dizziness, headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, damage to the local skin, etc.

Chemotherapy is the abbreviation of chemical drug therapy. It is a treatment method that uses chemical drugs to kill tumor cells, inhibit the growth and reproduction of tumor cells, and promote the differentiation of tumor cells. It is a systemic treatment that has a therapeutic effect on primary lesions, metastatic lesions, and subclinical metastatic lesions. There are many types of chemotherapy drugs, and a reasonable chemotherapy plan should be formulated based on the location, type, nature, and stage of the tumor. Chemotherapy drugs have systemic effects and produce many side effects, such as hair loss, anemia, bone marrow resistance, gastrointestinal dysfunction, liver and kidney dysfunction, etc.

Through the above introduction, we have a good understanding of the differences between radiotherapy and chemotherapy. They have different treatment methods. Therefore, when choosing between them, we must have a good understanding of them. This will be of great help in the treatment of the disease and the disease can be greatly improved.