Radiotherapy may be used in the early stages of cancer or after it has started to spread.
It can be used to:
try to cure the cancer completely (curative radiotherapy)
make other treatments more effective – for example, it can be combined with
chemotherapy or used before surgery (neo-adjuvant radiotherapy)
reduce the risk of the cancer coming back after surgery (adjuvant radiotherapy)
relieve symptoms if a cure is not possible (palliative radiotherapy)
Radiotherapy is generally considered the most effective cancer treatment after surgery, but how well it works varies from person to person.