Difference Between Chemo & Radiation

Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used to treat many kinds of cancer. Doctors may use the treatments alone or in combination. Both chemotherapy and radiation carry side effects.

Identification

• Chemotherapy uses chemicals to attack cancer cells, but radiation therapy most often uses X-rays beamed from an external machine to target cancer cells in a precise location.

Function

• Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be used as a sole treatment to shrink a tumor before surgery, as a follow-up to surgery or other treatments and to lessen the symptoms of advanced cancer.

Types

• Radiation therapy is most often external, but it can also involve an implant near or inside a tumor. Another type, systemic radiation, is ingested, injected or given intravenously and travels to the cancer cells. Chemotherapy can take several forms: creams, pills, intravenous infusions, injections and targeted therapies.

Short-Term Effects

• Immediate side effects of chemotherapy can include nausea and vomiting, loss of hair and appetite, tiredness, fever, pain, constipation and/or diarrhea. The side effects of radiation therapy vary according to location. They can include tiredness, difficulty breathing or swallowing, nausea and vomiting, coughing, diarrhea and sexual difficulties.

Long-Term Effects

• Both chemotherapy and radiation are linked with second cancers years after treatment. Chemotherapy can also damage the lungs, heart, kidneys and nerves and cause infertility.