Chemotherapy vs. radiation therapy
Chemo- and radiation therapy are both treatments for cancer. Both these treatment procedures help kill or control the growth of cancer cells. While they share the same goal that is to shrink the tumors and lessen the pain and associated symptoms, they use different approaches. Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that helps kill fast-spreading cancer cells in the body. They use powerful drugs that kill the cells. This treatment can be given in the form of an IV, which is a needle or a tube directly inserted into a blood vessel, orally or with an injection. On the other hand, radiation therapy involves high-energy beams such as X-rays or protons to kill these cells. It could be done through an external radiation method, which involves a machine that triggers invisible high-energy beams into the tumor from the outside or internal radiation method, also known as brachytherapy, in which a radioactive object is placed inside the body near the tumor. Systemic radiation is a less common method