Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy Side Effects

Radiation therapy treats cancer by using high energy waves to kill tumor cells. Radiation therapy and risk of a second cancer.

Radiotherapy For Primary Breast Cancer Bcc26 Breast Cancer Now
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For women who are long term smokers radiation therapy may also increase the risk of lung cancer.

Breast cancer radiation therapy side effects. Not everyone experiences side effects of radiation. Doctors may recommend this therapy in combination with others such as surgery and chemotherapy. Breast cancer refers to cancer that begins in the cells within your breasts.

Radiation therapy is often one of the treatments used for breast cancer. The goal is to destroy or damage the cancer without hurting too many healthy cells. One way to reduce side effects is by using radioprotective drugs.

A machine outside the body focuses the radiation on the area affected by the cancer. Just as the benefits of radiation are gradual youll usually see a gradual onset of side effects. The main types of radiation therapy that can be used to treat breast cancer are external beam radiation therapy ebrt and brachytherapy.

Radiation therapy also called radiotherapy is a highly targeted and highly effective way to destroy cancer cells in the breast that may stick around after surgery. This is the most common type of radiation therapy for women with breast cancer. Radiation can be an effective treatment for breast cancer but it does have side effects.

As a rule of thumb see your. Despite what many people fear radiation therapy is relatively easy to tolerate and its side effects are limited to the treated area. 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.

In rare cases radiation therapy to the breast can cause a second cancer. Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells. It can spread from the breasts to other areas of the body such as the bones and liver.

Learn more about what to. Doctors look for ways to reduce side effects caused by radiation therapy while still using the doses needed to kill cancer cells. This treatment can cause side.

Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue. Learn more about possible side effects. These drugs are given before radiation treatment to protect certain normal tissues in the treatment area.

There are multiple ways radiation therapy is used and even different types of delivery systems. Other side effects depend on the part of the body that is being treated. The most common cancers linked to radiation therapy are sarcomas cancers of the connective tissue.

Side Effects Of Adjuvant Treatment Of Breast Cancer Nejm
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Occurrence Of Late Side Effects After Radiation In 469 Breast
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