Question: if gamma radiation can be used to cure cancer, why can't it be used for every type of cancer

Fiona Scott answered on 12 Mar 2019:

Great question Ash. The word cancer is used to describe hundreds of different types of cancer and they all work slightly differently. Some cancer cells are not sensitive to gamma radiation which means they aren’t affected by it. Some cancers are bedded too deep in the body or are too close to important organs to risk firing radiation at them.

The general strategy is to use surgery to remove a tumour first where possible, otherwise use different chemo/radiotherapies to shrink said tumour then remove it with surgery, then a further dose of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy to mop up any remaining cancer cells.

We are learning more about how individual cancers work each day which helps us to fine tune the treatment given to patients. This is known as “targetted therapy”.

I had treatment for thyroid cancer a couple of years ago before starting my PhD (rather ironically!) which involved surgery and radiotherapy called radioactive iodine therapy. Radioactive iodine emits gamma radiation! I had no chemotherapy and 2.5 years on I’m still cancer free.