If your doctor diagnoses you with localized cancer of the lungs, skin, or somewhere else in your body, radiation treatment may be right for you. Radiation treatment can target cancer cells throughout your body, or it can target one specific area of your body. Learn more about radiation treatment and how it can target localized cancer cells below.

Can Radiation Treatment Work for Localized Cancer?

Localized cancer occurs in a specific area of the body, such as the lungs, heart, or kidneys. The cancer doesn't branch out or spread to other organs and tissues in your body. You can treat most types of localized cancers with radiation, also known as radiation therapy or radiotherapy.

Radiation is one of the most widely used cancer treatments known today. Doctors generally administer radiation therapy in doses. The doses given to you may depend on several factors, including the:

• size of your tumor
• location of your tumor
• severity of your tumor

If your tumor is small, the radiation doses you need to treat it may be small. The doses may be higher if your tumor is relatively large or bigger than normal. A cancer treatment physician can determine exactly what type of radiation therapy you need after they examine you.

How Do You Get Cancer Radiation Treatment?

A cancer treatment doctor may contact your regular physician to receive more information about your localized cancer. After a cancer treatment doctor learns more about your cancer, they can calculate how many doses you need for it.

A doctor may also need to remove your tumor before they administer your treatment. Some types of tumors grow in delicate areas of the body. The tumors can cause tissue damage and other problems if they remain in place. A cancer treatment doctor may use debulking or another method to remove some or all of your tumor. After they remove the tumor, a doctor will administer the correct doses of radiation to you.

You may undergo a number of treatments to improve your health. A doctor will monitor your progress to see if you require:

• lower or higher doses of radiation
• extra treatments to preserve the tissues in your body, including reconstructive surgery
• additional surgery to remove the rest of your tumor

If you need anything else during your radiation therapy, a doctor will convey this information to you right away.

Learn more about cancer radiation treatment by contacting a doctor today.