Side Effects From Radiation Treatments For Breast Cancer

Just as the benefits of radiation are gradual you ll usually see a gradual onset of side effects.

Side effects from radiation treatments for breast cancer.

They re usually gone within a few weeks after treatment ends. The x rays or particles are painless and invisible. Not everyone experiences side effects of radiation. 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.

Doctors may recommend this therapy in combination with others such as surgery and chemotherapy. The most common early side effects are fatigue feeling tired and skin changes. In rare cases radiation therapy to the breast can cause a second cancer. Radiation therapy for breast cancer uses high energy x rays protons or other particles to kill cancer cells.

Radiation therapy and risk of a second cancer. The most common cancers linked to radiation therapy are sarcomas cancers of the connective tissue. A machine outside the body focuses the radiation on the area affected by the cancer. These side effects tend to be short term mild and treatable.

The main types of radiation therapy that can be used to treat breast cancer are external beam radiation therapy ebrt and brachytherapy. This is the most common type of radiation therapy for women with breast cancer. For women who are long term smokers radiation therapy may also increase the risk of lung cancer. Early and late effects of radiation therapy.

Learn more about possible side effects. Radiation can be an effective treatment for breast cancer but it does have side effects. Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells. Rapidly growing cells such as cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy than are normal cells.