EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -High-energy radiation, such as x-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, beta particles, and neutrons, can damage DNA and cause cancer. These forms of radiation can be released in accidents at nuclear power plants and when atomic weapons are made, tested, or used.

Detailed explanation-2: -It causes cancer primarily because it damages DNA, which can lead to cancer-causing gene mutations. Children and adolescents can be more sensitive to the cancer-causing effects of ionizing radiation than adults because their bodies are still growing and developing.

Detailed explanation-3: -External beam radiation therapy is used to treat many types of cancer. Brachytherapy is most often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye. A systemic radiation therapy called radioactive iodine, or I-131, is most often used to treat certain types of thyroid cancer.

Detailed explanation-4: -Either by themselves or in combination with other co-factors, certain viruses and bacteria are able to cause cancers by affecting these important cellular pathways.