Side Effects From Radiation Treatments For Breast Cancer
Doctors may recommend this therapy in combination with others such as surgery and chemotherapy.
Side effects from radiation treatments for breast cancer. Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue. A machine outside the body focuses the radiation on the area affected by the cancer. Not everyone experiences side effects of radiation. Radiation therapy and risk of a second cancer.
The main types of radiation therapy that can be used to treat breast cancer are external beam radiation therapy ebrt and brachytherapy. Early and late effects of radiation therapy. Learn more about possible side effects. The most common cancers linked to radiation therapy are sarcomas cancers of the connective tissue.
These side effects tend to be short term mild and treatable. Many patients are surprised to discover that having radiation therapy is less difficult than they expected though the radiation used to damage cancer in your body can also damage healthy cells. Rapidly growing cells such as cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy than are normal cells. The most common early side effects are fatigue feeling tired and skin changes.
For women who are long term smokers radiation therapy may also increase the risk of lung cancer. Other side effects depend on the part of the body that is being treated. Radiation therapy for breast cancer uses high energy x rays protons or other particles to kill cancer cells. Just as the benefits of radiation are gradual you ll usually see a gradual onset of side effects.
Early side effects happen during or shortly after treatment. In rare cases radiation therapy to the breast can cause a second cancer. Radiation can be an effective treatment for breast cancer but it does have side effects. They re usually gone within a few weeks after treatment ends.