Cancer Crisis: Where are South Africa's radiation oncologists? Find out

Everyone knows about the cancer crisis of KZN, but no one talks about other states where there is only one radiation oncologist - or less

According to an annual survey conducted by the South African clinical radiation oncology association, there are no radiation oncologists in Limpopo or Mpumalanga.

In fact, half of the state can only rely on 9 radiation radiation oncologists in Gauteng province because we need to deduct 5 state cancer treatments.

Gauteng has long been a hopeful indicator for cancer patients and has offered the most serious service to patients from nearly half of the country - but what happens after the Gaussian tumor service fails?

To give you a starting point, here are some questions about cancer treatment, ask your internal medical oncologist, surgeon and radiation oncologist. Not everyone needs all three cancer experts. But regardless of your medical needs, these problems will help you prepare. Print out when booking to next cancer specialist

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells. A doctor specializing in radiotherapy to treat cancer is called a radiation oncologist. The radiation therapy regimen or schedule typically includes a specific amount of treatment to be administered over a set period of time. When it is impossible to destroy all cancers, the doctor may use radiation therapy to reduce tumors and relieve symptoms. This is called palliative radiation therapy. Palliative radiation therapy can relieve stress, pain and other symptoms. The goal is to improve the quality of people's lives

Radiation therapy Pediatric or adult radiation oncologist treats brain and spinal cord with high energy radiation (such as X-ray and proton beam) and kills cancer cells. Standard radiotherapy can be used but proton beam therapy - available in a limited number of major health care centers in the USA - provides higher target dose radiation for brain tumors, Minimize radiation exposure to healthy tissue. Chemotherapy chemotherapy uses medication to kill tumor cells. Usually, medulloblastoma children and adults receive these drugs intravenously (intravenous chemotherapy). Chemotherapy may be recommended at the same time as surgery or radiotherapy, or in some cases with radiation therapy. In some cases, stem cell rescue (stem cell transplantation using patient's own stem cells) is possible after using high-dose chemotherapy.

Radiation oncologist is a cancer specialist who is responsible for providing radiotherapy to cancer patients. Radiation therapy involves high energy ionizing radiation to kill the target and kill cancer cells in the body. Most of the cancer DNA that is formed in the body is absorbed by traditional radiation of these radiation. These doctors are trained in specialized high-end technical devices to treat various cancer-forming areas such as head and neck, breast, urogenital system, lung cancer, cervix etc. Training of radiation physics and radiology is mainly provided in the United States, Canada, and the UK. , Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Nepal