Radiotherapy side effects vary greatly, but commonly include significant fatigue, skin issues like sunburn, digestive problems (nausea, diarrhea), and potential hair loss, depending on the treated area. While some people feel mild effects, others experience more severe symptoms, which typically start weeks into treatment and gradually improve after it ends, though some can linger. External radiation isn't painful during the session, but the damage to healthy cells causes these effects, which are manageable with support from your care team.
Most people start feeling fatigued after a few weeks of radiation therapy. It usually gets worse as treatment goes on. It can last a long time and get in the way of normal activities, but it usually goes away over time after treatment ends.
Some people find radiotherapy makes them feel sick (nausea) or be sick (vomit). This is more likely if the treatment area is near the stomach or the brain. Sickness can usually be well controlled and stops once treatment is finished.
Many people who get radiation have some fatigue and skin reactions. Based on the area of your body being treated, you may also have some: Hair loss. Appetite changes.
An average loss of about 10% of pretherapy weight in patients undergoing radiotherapy has been documented.
Types of cancer that are treated with radiation therapy
Brachytherapy is most often used to treat cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye. A type of brachytherapy called radioembolization may be used to treat liver cancer or cancer that has spread to the liver.
While chemotherapy aims to keep the disease from spreading, radiation focuses on particular cells. Chemotherapy can also affect the entire body, while radiation repairs only the affected cells. Both treatments can cause side effects, including hair loss, nausea and fatigue.
Common Side Effects and Their Duration
Fatigue: Many people report feeling exhausted for weeks or months after treatment ends. Radiation fatigue makes even simple daily tasks feel overwhelming. Skin changes: Radiation causes skin in the treated area to become red, dry, or irritated.
For example, the following tissues and organs are listed from most radiosensitive to least radiosensitive:
The average radiation therapy patient needs 8 to 12 cups of water per day. If you are going to consume caffeinated drinks like tea or coffee, we recommend having no more than 1 to 2 glasses a day as it may make dry mouth worse. This is a common side effect during treatment.
Usually, each radiotherapy appointment takes about 10 to 30 minutes. But you may be in the department for longer. The treatment itself usually only takes a few minutes. Most of the appointment is spent getting you into the correct position and checking your details.
How do I know if my treatment has worked? Radiotherapy can keep working for several weeks after treatment has finished. You may not find out for a few months about the results of your treatment; you will have a follow up appointment to discuss this further.
It's important not to rub, scrub or scratch any sensitive spots. Also avoid putting anything that is very hot or very cold—such as heating pads or ice packs—on your treated skin.
The tiredness often reaches its peak 1 to 2 weeks after the end of treatment. A small number of people are asleep for a lot of the day after a long course of radiotherapy to the brain. This called somnolence syndrome.
At the same time, if a cell doesn't divide, it also cannot grow and spread. For tumors that divide slowly, the mass may shrink over a long, extended period after radiation stops.
So, the patient does not have to lose their voice. Radiation therapy has a 90-95% success rate in stage I, 85-90 % success rate in stage II, and 75-80% success rate in stage III. After radiation therapy, the patient is advised to visit the doctor for follow-up every three months.
Which is harder on the body, chemo or radiation? In general, because it affects only the part of the body being treated, radiation therapy has fewer side effects than chemo.
Lung and bronchus, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers are responsible for nearly 50% of all deaths.
These scans provide detailed images of the inside of your body, helping your radiotherapy team to plan your treatment accurately and effectively. By using these images, they can carefully target the cancer while protecting healthy tissues, making your treatment safer and more precise.
Ionizing Radiation
Bone and soft-tissue sarcomas are the most frequent SMNs following radiation therapy, but skin, brain, thyroid, and breast cancers also can occur. Radiation doses less than 30 Gy tend to be associated with thyroid and brain tumors, whereas doses greater than 30 Gy can evoke secondary sarcomas.
The cost of radiation therapy varies but a full course of treatment can range from $4,500 to $50,000, which typically includes multiple sessions.
The main side effects from chest radiotherapy include difficulty swallowing, sickness, weight loss, breathlessness, lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment, and heart problems.
Drinking lots of water and staying active can help patients flush radiation out of their systems faster. Not only this, but increasing your fiber intake is also a great way to increase the amount of radiation released from your body.