Jia Haiwei, why is radiotherapy divided into preventive irradiation and therapeutic irradiation?

After radiotherapy for childhood tumors, it is usually recommended to check the relevant parts three months later. Radiotherapy can generally be divided into preventive irradiation and therapeutic irradiation. For preventive irradiation, such as radiotherapy after total resection of Wilms tumor or complete remission of neuroblastoma, a follow-up examination is required three months later to observe whether there are signs of local recurrence. For other tumors such as rhabdomyosarcoma, therapeutic radiotherapy may be used, that is, there are still tumor residues during radiotherapy. In this case, a follow-up examination is required three months after radiotherapy to evaluate whether the residual tumor has shrunk or disappeared. Therefore, the two radiotherapy with different purposes, preventive radiotherapy and therapeutic radiotherapy, have different follow-up purposes. Usually, a follow-up examination can be started three months after postoperative radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy for childhood tumors is a common treatment method, which is of great significance for alleviating the disease and improving the survival rate. After the completion of radiotherapy, doctors usually recommend that patients undergo examinations of relevant parts three months later. This is because tumor radiotherapy has certain side effects, such as tissue damage and inflammation. Timely examinations can monitor the patient's recovery and prevent possible complications.

Radiotherapy can be divided into preventive irradiation and therapeutic irradiation. Preventive irradiation is mainly used for some common childhood tumors, such as Wilms tumor and neuroblastoma. When the tumor is completely removed or complete remission is achieved, doctors will use preventive radiotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence. Such patients need to be re-examined three months after the end of radiotherapy to observe whether there are signs of recurrence at the primary lesion.

Therapeutic irradiation is for patients who still have residual tumors, such as rhabdomyosarcoma. During radiotherapy, even if the tumor cannot be completely removed, radiotherapy can be used to reduce the tumor volume and relieve the condition. For such patients, a reexamination is required three months after radiotherapy to evaluate the changes in the size of the residual tumor to determine the treatment effect.

It can be seen that although preventive radiotherapy and therapeutic radiotherapy have different treatment purposes, their review purposes are the same, that is, to understand the changes in the patient's condition, evaluate the treatment effect, and promptly detect and deal with possible complications. Generally speaking, it is appropriate to start a review three months after postoperative radiotherapy. During this period, patients need to pay close attention to their physical condition, follow the doctor's advice, arrange their life and work reasonably, and maintain a good attitude.

In short, a three-month follow-up after radiotherapy for childhood tumors is very important. Patients and their families should fully realize the significance of the follow-up and actively cooperate with doctors to ensure the effectiveness of treatment and the quality of life of patients. At the same time, the results of the follow-up can also provide doctors with valuable information to develop more appropriate follow-up treatment plans for patients. In this process, doctors and patients should work together to defeat the disease and protect the healthy growth of children.