Genetic News Weblog

The prospect of facing cancer in your own life or that of a loved one is a frightening prospect. Much of that fear comes from not understanding steps that can be taken and necessary medical procedures.

Fortunately, cancer patients have a number of key treatments available to counter their diseases. The earlier the diagnosis, the greater the likelihood of long-term survival.

One of the keys, however, is understanding what to do and the procedures available once the symptoms have been diagnosed and the disease is confirmed.

Radiation - breast cancer survivors know it well, and those recently diagnosed with the disease may be fearing it. To learn more about radiation therapy, how it works, when it’s used and common side effects, keep reading.

About Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy for breast cancer uses high-energy x-rays that either kill cancer cells or inhibit their ability to divide or grow. Cancer cells grow rapidly and are therefore more susceptible to the effects of radiation therapy - more so than normal, healthy cells.

At What Stages Radiation is Considered

Radiation can be used to treat almost any stage of breast cancer. It’s most often used as the primary treatment in stage one and stage two breast cancer, but in conjunction with surgery or after a mastectomy.

Radiation - Breast Cancer After A Lumpectomy

After a lumpectomy, radiation therapy is typically recommended to prevent a relapse or recurrence of the cancer. This kind of recurrence is called in-breast recurrence.

The risk for in-breast recurrence hovers at around 30 percent if radiation therapy is not given to the patient after a lumpectomy. Yet, if the patient receives radiation therapy, that risk is reduced to a fraction (between 5 and 10 percent).

Radiation after a lumpectomy may not be appropriate if the patient is pregnant, has a connective tissue disease like lupus or has had previous radiation to the affected area.

Radiation After a Mastectomy

Most doctors recommend radiation therapy after a mastectomy for patients who are at a high risk for cancer recurrence anywhere on the chest wall. Factors that put many women at risk include underarm lymph nodes that may test positive for cancerous cells, any tumor larger than 5 cm, and narrow margins for positive cancer cells in the removed tissue.

The value of radiation to destroy a minimal amount of positive lymph nodes is somewhat controversial. Some practitioners argue that it prevents recurrence but may lead to other problems such as heart issues, as radiation can affect the coronary arteries.

Radiation Therapy Side Effects

Radiation is a cumulative process, meaning side effects tend to become more pronounced as the treatment progresses and continues.

In general, the most noticeable side effect is fatigue - constantly feeling tired, weak and unable to tackle daily tasks. If you’re heading into an upcoming course of radiation therapy treatments, you may want to consider taking time off your job or simply reduce your workload both at the office and at home.

Other symptoms are itching, general skin irritation, redness, peeling, soreness, swelling and other common symptoms associated with localized radiation. Breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy often compare it to a severe, but very small sunburn. The good news is that when the treatment comes to a conclusion, the symptoms gradually diminish.

Tags: Cancer //