Healthy cells that are damaged during radiation treatment usually recover within a few months after treatment is over. But sometimes people may have side effects that do not improve. Other side effects may show up months or years after radiation therapy is over. These are called late effects.
Following treatment with stereotactic radiation, more than eight in ten patients (84%) survived at least 1 year, and four in ten (43%) survived 5 years or longer. The median overall survival (OS) time was 42.3 months.
When your radiation therapy is complete, you will meet with your radiation oncologist for follow-up. Your next steps after that may include: Meeting with other care teams for additional treatment, if needed. Meeting with the cancer survivorship team for supportive care.
Despite the side effects, radiotherapy can be a highly effective treatment for cancer. 4 out of every 10 cancer cures include radiotherapy as part of the treatment plan. However, radiotherapy doesn't cause cancerous tumours to shrink immediately and it can take some time for the beneficial effects to become apparent.
When used to treat cancer, radiation therapy can cure cancer, prevent it from returning, or stop or slow its growth. When treatments are used to ease symptoms, they are known as palliative treatments.
Most cancers that are going to come back will do so in the first 2 years or so after treatment. After 5 years, you are even less likely to get a recurrence. For some types of cancer, after 10 years your doctor might say that you are cured. Some types of cancer can come back many years after they were first diagnosed.
Radiation promotes the release of cytokines and growth factors through the induction of a damage response [54]. Secreted by tumor, immune, or normal cells, many of these cytokines are involved in promoting tumor cell migration, invasion, and metastasis following radiotherapy.
Radiation therapy remains an important component of cancer treatment with approximately 50% of all cancer patients receiving radiation therapy during their course of illness; it contributes towards 40% of curative treatment for cancer.
Breast cancer: Women with breast cancer have an overall 30% chance of recurrence. Many cases happen within five years of completing the initial treatment. Cervical cancer: Of those with invasive cervical cancer, an estimated 35% will have a recurrence.
External radiation therapy will not make you radioactive. You don't have to worry about being physically close to family and friends. Internal radiation therapy means that radioactive material is put into your body. In some instances, you will have to take certain precautions for a short time.
Typically, people have treatment sessions 5 times per week, Monday through Friday. This schedule usually continues for 3 to 9 weeks, depending on your personal treatment plan.
Most side effects generally go away within a few weeks to 2 months of finishing treatment. But some side effects may continue after treatment is over because it takes time for healthy cells to recover from the effects of radiation therapy. Late side effects can happen months or years after treatment.
While radioresponsive tumors start to shrink in a few days, most head and neck cancers may take weeks or longer to shrink. Some low-grade, slowly proliferating tumors histologically appear to be viable for prolonged periods after irradiation.
The oncologist will decide which treatment is most effective for the patient. If the disease is spreading rapidly, chemotherapy will be the most likely approach. Radiation therapy may make more sense for particular types of cancer that are affecting smaller areas. Patients react differently to the treatments.
Avoid raw vegetables and fruits, and other hard, dry foods such as chips or pretzels. It's also best to avoid salty, spicy or acidic foods if you are experiencing these symptoms. Your care team can recommend nutrient-based oral care solutions if you are experiencing mucositis or mouth sores caused by cancer treatment.
Radiation therapy can also cause hair loss on the part of the body that is being treated. Hair loss is called alopecia. Talk with your health care team to learn if the cancer treatment you will be receiving causes hair loss. Your doctor or nurse will share strategies that have help others, including those listed below.
Feeling very tired and lacking energy (fatigue) for day-to-day activities is the most common side effect of radiation therapy to any area of the body. During treatment, your body uses a lot of energy dealing with the effects of radiation on normal cells.
Radiation sickness is damage to your body caused by a large dose of radiation often received over a short period of time (acute). The amount of radiation absorbed by the body — the absorbed dose — determines how sick you'll be. Radiation sickness is also called acute radiation syndrome or radiation poisoning.
If you have signs or symptoms of metastases, your doctor will likely use local treatment (treatment directly to the cancer area) to relieve the symptoms and to control the disease at that spot. Radiation can shrink and help control specific spots where the cancer has spread.
The overall net outcome of radiotherapy is beneficial as it may reduce metastasis and prolong survival.