Radiotherapy treats disease, chiefly cancer, using ionizing radiation to damage the DNA of targeted cells. It followed directly from Wilhelm Rontgen's discovery of X-rays in November 1895. French physician Victor Despeignes made the first recorded attempt at therapeutic use in 1896, treating a patient's stomach cancer with inconclusive results, and Austrian physician Leopold Freund achieved the first widely documented success treating a skin condition around 1897; within a few years scientific journals were reporting successful treatment of skin malignancies with X-rays, though early practitioners understood little about safe dosage and many suffered radiation injuries themselves. This atlas describes the history of the treatment and is not medical advice.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearDated here to Victor Despeignes's first recorded therapeutic use of X-rays against a tumor in 1896, a year after Rontgen's discovery; some accounts instead date the treatment's origin to Rontgen's 1895 discovery of X-rays itself, since Despeignes's own attempt was inconclusive and the first clearly documented therapeutic success came about a year later still. Radiotherapy
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FAQs
Is radiotherapy used only for cancer?
Mostly cancer, but it also treats some non-cancerous diseases such as early stage Dupuytren's disease.
No. Radiotherapy is chiefly a cancer treatment, but it is also used for some non-cancerous diseases. For example, it is used to treat early stage Dupuytren's disease and Ledderhose disease, where low doses are given to prevent the disease from progressing further. This atlas describes the history of the treatment and is not medical advice.
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Radiotherapy is a standard treatment option for acromegaly when surgery does not fully control growth hormone excess.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Radioactive iodine therapy (radiotherapy) is a standard treatment for hyperthyroidism.
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1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
Radiation therapy (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_therapy, lead section
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells.
Lead, first sentence
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells.
View the Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997Treats: Cancer
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