You must choose the procedure that bests suits you, your lifestyle, and your future expectations. Back to questions index 16. Radiation and chemotherapy are two forms of treatment options used to treat various types of cancer, with or without surgical interventions. Radiation therapy is used for local control of the disease. It uses a directed and controlled beam of radiation to treat the tissue surrounding the surgical site to destroy and leftover cancer cells that may remain.
Chemotherapy is used for distant disease control.
Sometimes only one of these treatments is used, sometimes they are used together, and sometimes patients do not need either one. Back to questions index 17. Radiation therapy uses a controlled, precise x-ray bean to deliver a measured amount of radiation to the tissue surrounding a cancer site following surgery. The purpose is to destroy any remaining microscopic cancer cells that may remain in the surrounding tissue. During the treatment you will not feel anything.