Nursing care of patients undergoing radiotherapy in all types of cancer

Radiation therapy is one part of medical radiology in which the use of ionizing radiation is used to treat various human diseases. The cell is most sensitive to radiation during mitosis (M) and the G2 phase, with the greatest radio resistance occurring in the DNA synthesis phase (S).3 Today, some chemotherapy agents have their greatest direct effect on the S phase, thus arresting at different sensitive cell-cycle points. The dose of radiation prescribed is determined by 3 main factors—radio sensitivity of the tumor, normal tissue tolerance, and the volume of tissue to be irradiated. Normal tissue response to ionizing radiation depends on the total dose, fractionation schedule (daily dose and overall length of treatment), and volume treated. All cells and structures that lie within the path of the ionizing radiation beam are vulnerable to toxicities. Tissue and organ systems within the body are composed of multiple cellular components that have differing radiation-tolerance parameters. When chemotherapy and radiation are used concurrently, acute and late reactions in various tissues generally occur at much lower doses than when radiation is used alone. In addition, combined modality therapy can produce acute and late radiation injuries that are not commonly seen with either modality alone. Patients treated with radiation alone and in combination with other modalities such as chemotherapy are at risk for multiple toxicities that can be classifyed as acute, subacute, and late effects

Nursing care of patients undergoing radiotherapy in all types of cancer Keywords:

Nursing , care , radiotherapy , cancer