Kalib M. Franklin
Cook
English IV Honors
10/10/2018
Radiation vs Chemotherapy
Cancer is one of the worst diseases in medicine today. There is currently no end all cure, but instead there are medicines that can get rid of the carcinomic cells for a while until usually, they return. Radiation and chemotherapy are the two main ways in which cancer is treated. Sometimes they are used together, but most of the time they are used separately. Chemotherapy and Radiation are neither better on their own, but rather that they are better when used together. This will be done by comparing the benefits and detriments of both, comparing the side effects of both, looking at the success rate of each being used separately as well as together.
Before we compare benefits and detriments however, we need to understand what exactly chemotherapy and radiation are. Chemotherapy uses a combination of powerful chemicals in order to kill the fast-growing cells in the patient's body (Mayo Clinic). It is actually used less often than radiation. But there isn’t just one type of chemotherapy, there are around 5 different types of chemotherapy that are used. These are alkylating agents, plant alkaloids, anti-tumor antibiotics, antimetabolites, and topoisomerase inhibitors (Chemocare). They all have their benefits and detriments such as how plant alkaloids are natural, but they are cell cycle specific which means that they only work in certain situations(Chemocare). Another example would be how alkylating agents are non cell cycle specific, which is helpful because the cancer doesn’t need to be in a specific stage for them to work. But, on the other hand, they are made up of a bunch of chemicals(Chemocare). Radiation however is completely different than chemotherapy in the way it works and what it is made up of. Instead of using mixtures of chemicals, it uses powerful beams of energy in order to kill the carconomic cells(Mayo Clinic). The problem with radiation however is that it damages healthy cells as well.
There are many different benefits and detriments when it comes to talking about chemotherapy. One of the benefits is that it can be natural products(Chemocare). This can be beneficial because you don't have to worry about harmful chemicals entering your body. Another benefit is, chemo stops the division of the harmful cells which then weakens them enough so that the body can kill them(Mayo Clinic). This can be better for the body as it is more natural than radiation which uses energy to kill the cells rather than weaken them and let the body do its thing.
Chemotherapy does have its fair share of detriments however. These come in the form of the side effects patients have to endure. Things such as, fatigue, easy bruising and bleeding, pain with swallowing, anemia, and kidney problems(American Cancer Society). These side effects can greatly affect a patient’s quality of life. This would make it to where usually you wouldn’t be able to operate heavy machinery. Which could affect how you do your job and whether or not you could enjoy certain activities that you used to. Another example of these side effects affecting quality of life could be with easy bruising and bleeding. This can greatly affect the patient’s quality of life by restricting the types of activities they are able to complete and enjoy, or it could even lead to deadly conditions. Chemotherapy can make the skin so thin that even just rubbing up against something can make the patient bleed, or if someone just lightly pokes them, they would have the possibility of bruising. So if a patient rubs up against a wall or any piece of furniture or animal, this can tear their skin and cause them to end up bleeding. While the simple cut or tear may not seem as big of a deal to normal healthy people such as us. If a chemo patient is cut, their bodies may not be able to clot the blood, or the patient themselves stop the bleeding(American Cancer Society). This could leave to significant blood loss and sometimes can even be fatal.
Radiation might have the same purpose as chemotherapy, but its benefits and detriments are completely different. Radiation helps cancer patients with their carcinomic cells but, one of the biggest benefits of radiation in general is that it can help with benign, meaning cancer-less, tumors as well.(Mayo Clinic). This can be helpful in many different ways. If the patient went to their radiation appointment he/she could get cured of a tumor without even knowing. That is a huge benefit and could save the patient tons of money in treatment and tests but keep in mind radiation also has some pretty bad side-effects. These can include hair-loss, dry mouth, sexual dysfunction, frequent urination, and tooth decay. These can also greatly affect patient’s quality of life. Tooth decay is a big issue when it comes to this(Mayo Clinic). If a person already has mediocre teeth and then they get radiation, their teeth could become unusable, which could make a patients life almost unlivable(Mayo Clinic). Another example with this could be that radiation can cause sexual dysfunction(Mayo Clinic). This could be a problem because let’s say that a young couple had just gotten married, now they find out that one of them has cancer. Now if with treatment, the spouse develops sexual dysfunction, they could have a lot of trouble when it comes to them having kids.
Chemotherapy and Radiation both work well when used separate but better when used together. The success rate of chemotherapy and radiation when used together exponentially improves the outcomes of the patients rather when used separately(Cure Today). The only issue with this is however you may have to deal with both sides of the side effects. This could potentially ruin your way of living but dramatically increase your quality of life and chances of living in the end. Gordon Cole a cancer survivor from Greensboro, NC stated that the side effects were not that bad overall when he received chemoradiotherapy, which is chemotherapy and radiation combined. He said that the only real effect he experienced was fatigue towards the end of his treatment. This is another way chemotherapy and radiation are better when used together because you have a better success rate when it comes to beating the cancer, but also if Cole’s experience is of any insight the side effects the patient may experience are not that bad over all.
Cancer as well as the treatments that go along with it can have a big stress on the body but as well as the psychological aspect of terms. “As any person with cancer knows, a cancer diagnosis also affects family members and friends”(Cancer.Net).
Cancer is a terrible disease that is a big topic in a lot of the research done in the medical field today. Chemotherapy and Radiation are the two main types of treatment done and are sometimes argued that they are better when used separately but, really they are better and more effective when used together. Cancer ruins lives and families and can even ruin the minds of patients, we need to use chemo and radiation together in order to help more people so that we can get closer and closer to finding a cure.
Works Cited
Cancer.net Editorial Board. “Family Life.” Conquer Cancer Foundation, November 2016, www.cancer.net/coping-with-cancer/talking-with-family-and-friends/family-life. Accessed 2 October 2018.
Chemocare. “Types of Chemotherapy.” Chemocare, 2018, www.chemocare.com/chemot herapy/what-is-chemotherapy/types-of-chemotherapy.aspx. Accessed 1 October 2018.
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Chemotherapy.” Mayo Foundation, 27 April 2017