Originally published in February 2004 icon. Completely updated 2007
Radiotherapy uses high-speed ionising radiation, similar to X-rays. to attack the DNA in abnormal (cancerous) cells, If it hits the DNA when it is dividing, a nonsensical code sequence will be produced and the body's natural defence system will throw the rogue cells out. At least, that's the theory.
Techniques are being developed all the time to try to kill more of the cancerous cells and less of the surrounding healthy ones.
The total dosage is very carefully calculated to do the most efficient and effective job. So patients must go to every planned session.
Radiotherapy's effectiveness has to be balanced against the risks; for example, there are recent reports of new cancers appearing later in life after radiotherapy treatments, and studies on heart and lung damage amongst breast cancer patients show the problems are not insignificant.
Finally, remember, radiotherapy can go on working for up to four to six weeks after the treatment has stopped.
1: Ask your consultant whether he/she considers there are active cancer cells in the area, or is the radiotherapy a precautionary measure? Is this the optimum time for this treatment, or would it be better to hold it in reserve? If you have radiotherapy now, can you have further treatment in the future? Is it to be used as a cure or symptom relief? (A lot less radiation is needed for symptom relief).
2:What would the doctor consider to be a successful outcome at the end of the treatment
a) no tumour remaining
b) a reduction in tumour size, or
c) another outcome?
How long will the treatment be? Is it a one-off, or might there be more? Will you be an Outpatient?
3: How often has the doctor personally treated your type of tumour, and what is his/her success rate? How does that compare to the national average?
4: What other organs and tissues will receive radiaton as well as the target area? Will the beam be modulated to minimise damage? What are the chances of it causing long-term damage to affected organs? (In breast cancer cases, sometimes up to 15 per cent of lung tissue is permanently damaged in this way)
 What other organs and tissues will receive radiation as well as the target area? 
5: What happens if there is no response? How common is that and what is the fallback plan?
6: What exactly are the side effects likely to be, and what really are the chances of each side effect?
7: Which supplements would they recommend to:
· improve the success of the radiotherapy?
· reduce side effects?
· speed up recovery?
8: Selenium, soya isoflavones and astragalus have been proven in various studies worldwide to make radiotherapy more effective. Vitamin D is increasingly recommended by US and some UK hospitals and also seems to improve the success of the treatment programme.
Pre-Radiotherapy
9: Go to a cranial osteopath and/or acupuncturist, as soon as you find out you have cancer. They will balance and strengthen your body energy systems. Start taking daily exercise if possible; try a yoga course and meditation. Cut salt, animal fats, dairy and glucose as much as possible. Eat whole foods.
10: Take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement - ideally one including some iron and B complex, with at least 400mcgs of folic acid. Take anti-oxidants such as beta-carotene (chlorella would be a good natural source), vitamin C (500mgs four times a day), vitamin E (a natural total E with all 4 tocopherols and all 4 tocotrienols - 400 IU daily), zinc (25mgs daily), selenium (200mcgs daily), co-enzyme Q10 (30mgs daily) and lycopene (10-20mgs daily), all of which will strengthen your immune system.
11: Take 1,000mgs of cod liver oil and two garlic tablets a day, or eat lots of oily fish and raw garlic. Take 3,000mgs of astragalus, and Essiac. Replace all chocolate, coffee and tea drinks with green tea.
12: Take the amino acid supplement N-Acetyl Cysteine containing glutamine (which stimulates the liver to produce glutathione, which repairs damaged cells), and L-Cysteine, which is particularly important in DNA repair.
13: Instead of taking the supplements, you can eat lots of raw carrots, asparagus, avocado and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage etc) which are especially strong in glutathione; and kelp, eggs and garlic for L-cysteine. And go out in the sunshine for vitamin D.
14: Avoid animal fats, saturated oils and dairy products, as cancer cells thrive on fats. Use a little soya instead and take 3gms of soya lecithin a day, which will help the liver break down the excess fats lying there. Add 2gms of soya isoflavones a day, or red clover, to help in all cases of hormone-induced cancer (breast, prostate etc).
15: Buy a proprietary detox and use it for at least four days to help clean the liver. Drink up to three litres of glass bottled or reverse-osmosis filtered water a day to clear away toxins and clean the liver, and take 200mgs of milk-thistle to strengthen it. Make sure your diet has enough magnesium.
During Radiotherapy(and for 4-6 weeks afterwards)
16: Keep on going to the the cranial osteopath and/or acupuncturist and practising regular yoga and meditation, though you will probably be too tired to exercise fully. Stay out of bright sunshine, as radiotherapy can "burn" the skin. Wash the area only in cold water and apply cooling aloe vera gel.
17: The very latest research from MD Anderson and UCLA confirms that it is advantageous to keep taking all the supplements. Cancer cells lose their ability to regulate uptake and the antioxidants and the radiotherapy work together to kill more cancer cells, whilst the supplements also protect the healthy cells
Consider taking carnitine (Italian doctors have identified the cause of fatigue during radiotherapy as low levels of carnitine circulating in the blood stream).
Detox after three, six and nine weeks
Drinking peppermint or ginger tea or slippery elm powder dissolved with soya milk and hot water may calm the stomach and help with any nausea.
NB - When writing the 2nd Edition of "Everything you need to know to help you beat cancer" a number of doctors advised Chris Woollams that they felt it was not a good thing to take antioxidants with radiotherapy. However, Chris has found no hard evidence to say they shouldn't be taken. In fact quite the reverse. Edition 3, therefore, has been amended.
18: Detox after three, six and nine weeks, if you feel up to it, and continue drinking pure water and avoiding fats and oils.
Post Radiotherapy
19: Take an organic iron supplement for the first week to raise your blood count. To help regenerate a healthy immune system quickly also take 1,500mgs of echinacea and 1,000mgs of cat's claw (uno de gato) - the latter on an empty stomach - along with the 3,000mgs of astragalus.
20: MGN-3 and medicinal mushroom products are reported in Japanese clinical trials to significantly reduce side effects and improve effectiveness of radiotherapy and long-term survival rates.
For more general dietary information refer to Chris Woollams' book The Tree Of Life. For more details on radiotherapy and how to combat the side effects, refer to his best-seller Everything You Need To Know To Help You Beat Cancer.
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