Learn more about possible side effects.
Side effects of radiation after chemo for breast cancer.
Side effects might limit your ability to do some things.
If you have a higher dose of radiation your chances of getting side effects are more likely but if you get too low of a dose of radiation it won t be as effective against the cancer and could leave cancer cells alive.
However you may lose some hair under your arm or on the breast or chest area getting radiation this may be a concern for some men with breast cancer.
What you can do will depend on how you feel.
Doctors may recommend this therapy in combination with others such as surgery and chemotherapy.
Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue.
Other side effects depend on the part of the body that is being treated.
Some side affects won t show up until months or years after your treatment.
Radiation can be an effective treatment for breast cancer but it does have side effects.
Rapidly growing cells such as cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy than are normal cells.
Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells.
Rare short or long term side effects although rare with modern treatment the side effects below may occur a few months or years after radiation therapy.