Every patient of Sierra Vista Cancer Center /
Casa Grande Oncology is under the care of an oncologist who is a
cancer specialist with expertise in either radiation therapy or
chemotherapy. This insures that your physician is one who can best
focus on your specific type of cancer.
Radiation therapy, sometimes called
radiotherapy, is the use of various forms of radiation to safely
and effectively treat cancer and other diseases. Doctors use
radiation therapy to try to cure cancer, to control the growth
of the cancer or to relieve symptoms, such as pain.
Radiation therapy works by damaging the DNA
within cancer cells and destroying the ability of the cancer
cells to reproduce. When these damaged cells die, the body
naturally eliminates them. Normal cells are also affected by
radiation, but they are able to repair themselves in a way that
cancer cells cannot.
While you undergo radiation therapy, a team
of highly trained medical professionals will be working together
to make sure you receive the best care possible. A radiation
oncologist, a doctor who specializes in using radiation to treat
cancer, leads this team.
