Before patients start radiotherapy a team of specialists discuss the best way to treat their cancer. Imagine you are accompanying a friend to a medical appointment where they will be told about their upcoming treatment. List good questions you could ask.

State why radiotherapy is an effective cancer treatment. The radiation can be localised to a small area without producing much other damage.1The radiation can find and destroy any diseased cells in the body.2Radiotherapy never has any side effects.

Your friend will be told about the side effects of radiotherapy that they may experience. For example, apart from the nausea, skin pain and diarrhoea mentioned in the video there can also be hair loss, mouth ulcers, sexual dysfunction, appetite loss and general fatigue. There is even the possibility that the radiotherapy could cause new cancers to form. Why do people accept these side effects as part of their treatment? Are there situations where you think the benefits of radiotherapy might not outweigh the side effects? Explain your answer.

A scientist is interested in designing an alternative cancer treatment involving a less harmful type of radiation. What should her next step be?A.Look into the needs society has for drugs that can treat a variety of diseases.B.Look at how radiation interacts with cancer cells.C.Begin radiation treatments on new patients.D.Set up a test trial for her new treatment.

Your prostate cancer patient wishes to clarify with you the treatment options for prostate cancer. Outline the different options.

Imaging is also evolving from its initial focus—diagnosing medical conditions—to playing an integral part in treatment as well, especially in the area of cancer. Doctors are beginning to lean on imaging to help them monitor tumors and the spread of cancer cells so that they have a better, faster way of knowing if therapies are working. That _________ for imaging will transform the types of treatments patients will receive, and vastly improve the information doctors get about how well they're working, so that they can ultimately make better choices about what treatment options they need.1Mark for ReviewABCWhich choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?Agreater challengeBnew roleCbig goalDrefined part