Hi Dr. Landolfi;
Here is the next question from the group. First though, I want to pass on the sincere "thanks" expressed by many of the group members for your assistance.
How does radiation work? What does it do at it's destination point? What damage does it do along the way to the destination point?
Thank you (as always)
Bruce
The doctor's response...
Radiation damages the DNA of tumor cells affecting the way they replicate. It can do the same to normal cells. More focal radiation, like Gamma Knife , spares normal cells, because the radiation is delivered by 201 weak beams that have no effect, but where they collide(on the tumor) , they have their impact. Other forms of radiosurgery(Cyberknife, X-knife. Linac, Brain lab, Trilogy), use only one beam so you don't spare normal tissue unless you divide the treatment over several days. They same is true for whole brain radiation, partial brain radiation and 3D conformal radiation. Unfortunately , radiosurgery is not appropriate for all tumor types because it is so focal, and so the other tyoes need to be utilized.
Dr. Landolfi