The increasing prevalence of oncology diseases, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, etc., is increasing the demand for time management to reduce the mortality associated with the aforementioned conditions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. The most common type of cancer in 2020 (in terms of new cases of cancer) were: prostate (around 1.41 million cases), lung (around 2.21 million cases), and breast (around 2.26 million cases). This in turn is expected to increase the demand for radiotherapy (radiation therapy) all over the world, driving the growth of the radiotherapy market.
Radiotherapy is used for the treatment of cancer through high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiotherapy uses ionizing radiations that deliver targeted beams of radiation to kill and destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to the healthy cells around them. It is commonly abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT is an internal radiotherapy treatment using ionizing radiation, usually delivered through a linear accelerator and designed to kill or control malignant cells within the body. Radiotherapy is usually used for cancers of the breast, lungs, ovaries, prostate, testicles, bones, brain, and abdominal organs. Sometimes, radiation therapy is used to treat chronic disorders such as pleurisy and meningitis.
The growth of the radiotherapy market, in North America and the Asia Pacific, is mainly driven by the increasing prevalence of cancer in the aforementioned regions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, around 1,806,590 cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed in the United States and 606,520 people were expected to die from the disease. Moreover, people are increasingly adopting novel therapies to reduce side effects associated with chemotherapy. Thus, there is an increasing demand for radiotherapy to treat cancer, which will further minimize the economic burden in the region. This in turn is expected to accelerate the growth of the radiotherapy market.
Furthermore, standardized approaches in external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy have been developed through scientific discoveries, trial and error, and technological advances. Various types of radiotherapies, such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), conformal radiotherapy (CRT), 4-dimensional radiotherapy, and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) are widely used for the treatment of cancer. Radiotherapy is increasingly being adopted for cancer treatment due to its cost-effectiveness. Thus, the radiotherapy market is growing rapidly along with the worldwide adoption of radiotherapy for cancer treatment.