<P> The history of radiation therapy or radiotherapy can be traced back to experiments made soon after the discovery of x-rays ( 1895 ) , when it was shown that exposure to radiation produced cutaneous burns . Influenced by electrotherapy and escharotics -- the medical application of caustic substances -- doctors began using radiation to treat growths and lesions produced by diseases such as lupus , basal cell carcinoma , and epithelioma . Radiation was generally believed to have bactericidal properties , so when radium was discovered , in addition to treatments similar to those used with x-rays , it was also used as an additive to medical treatments for diseases such as tuberculosis where there were resistant bacilli . </P>
<P> The history of radiation therapy or radiotherapy can be traced back to experiments made soon after the discovery of x-rays ( 1895 ) , when it was shown that exposure to radiation produced cutaneous burns . Influenced by electrotherapy and escharotics -- the medical application of caustic substances -- doctors began using radiation to treat growths and lesions produced by diseases such as lupus , basal cell carcinoma , and epithelioma . Radiation was generally believed to have bactericidal properties , so when radium was discovered , in addition to treatments similar to those used with x-rays , it was also used as an additive to medical treatments for diseases such as tuberculosis where there were resistant bacilli . </P>
when was radiotherapy first used to treat cancer
when was radiotherapy first used to treat cancer
1895
1895