Radiation Therapy for Colon, Rectum and Anus Cancers

Understanding Radiation Therapy

• Radiation therapy, sometimes called radiotherapy, is the careful use of radiation to treat cancer safely and effectively.
• Cancer doctors called radiation oncologists use radiation therapy to try to cure cancer, control cancer growth or relieve symptoms, such as pain.
• Radiation therapy works within cancer cells by damaging their ability to multiply. When these cells die, the body naturally eliminates them.
• Healthy cells are also affected by radiation, but they can repair themselves in ways cancer cells cannot.