Which treatment approach places radioactive sources inside or near the treatment area?

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Multiple Choice

Which treatment approach places radioactive sources inside or near the treatment area?

Placing radioactive sources inside or very close to the treatment area concentrates the radiation exactly where the tumor sits, allowing a high dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. This approach is brachytherapy. It can involve placing sources permanently (as seeds) or temporarily through applicators or catheters, providing steep dose fall-off as you move away from the source. External beam therapy delivers radiation from outside the body, so the rays pass through healthy tissues before reaching the tumor—less precise in that sense than brachytherapy. Descriptions that suggest implants with external beam don’t fit, since implants are characteristic of brachytherapy. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, uses drugs rather than radiation. So the method that fits the description—placing radioactive sources inside or near the treatment area—is brachytherapy.

Placing radioactive sources inside or very close to the treatment area concentrates the radiation exactly where the tumor sits, allowing a high dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. This approach is brachytherapy. It can involve placing sources permanently (as seeds) or temporarily through applicators or catheters, providing steep dose fall-off as you move away from the source.

External beam therapy delivers radiation from outside the body, so the rays pass through healthy tissues before reaching the tumor—less precise in that sense than brachytherapy. Descriptions that suggest implants with external beam don’t fit, since implants are characteristic of brachytherapy. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, uses drugs rather than radiation.

So the method that fits the description—placing radioactive sources inside or near the treatment area—is brachytherapy.

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