Radiation Oncology is a specialized medical field that primarily utilizes ionizing radiation to treat tumors and certain inflammatory conditions. It encompasses key disciplines such as clinical oncology, radiation physics, and radiation biology.

Radiation therapy, which employs radiation to treat diseases, is one of the three major treatment modalities for tumors, along with surgery and chemotherapy. The radiation used in radiation therapy penetrates our bodies, causing ionization, which leads to chemical changes in essential substances for cell proliferation and survival, such as nucleic acids and cell membranes, ultimately killing tumor cells.

Radiation exposure affects both normal and cancerous tissues, but normal tissues can recover to some extent over time, whereas tumor tissues have insufficient recovery capabilities. This difference is exploited in radiation therapy to target and treat tumors effectively. Radiation oncologists work in consultation with other medical specialists to consider the characteristics of the disease and the patient's condition to determine the most suitable method and duration of radiation therapy.

Overall, Radiation Oncology is a critical discipline in medicine that focuses on the use of radiation for therapeutic purposes in the management of tumors and selected inflammatory conditions