Side Effects of Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is an excellent option when we are trying to shrink the size of tumor by aiming particles of very high energy at cancerous cells.

After talking over all the radiation therapies, now this is the time to discuss the side-effects of them. As, there are some side-effects, which cannot be overlooked. When the radiation rays are passed through the skin of the patient, there may be a possibility that healthy muscles and tissues can be damaged before reaching the target location. This can also harm the healthy cells and can be the reason for the bladder irritation, nausea, fatigue and changes in skin.

When going through several sessions of radiation therapy, patient may face the problems related to the damaging of tissues. One cycle of radiation therapy may end up to eight weeks, for the duration of which patient may begin to observe the side-effects. These side-effects will be more severe as the treatment advances.

What are the side-effects when treating Pleural Mesothelioma?

• Tenderness in breasts (Seen in female)
• Breathlessness
• Coughing
• Difficult to swallow
• Fibrosis (Scars in the lungs)
• What are the side-effects when treating Peritoneal Mesothelioma?
• Irritation in bladder
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Coughing

The good thing about these side-effects that they are more often temporary and can be usually observed during the treatment. In some cases, they are become chronic and can appear for months or even years after the treatment is completed.

What are the factors that affect a patient to develop side-effects of radiation therapy?

• The area of patient’s body, which receive the radiation
• Daily dose of radiation, which is delivered to the patient
• Total amount of radiation dose
• Genetics
• Overall health of patient
• Number of additional treatment, which are given to the patient

Just to give you more insights there are some very rare, but major complications of radiation therapy. In pleural mesothelioma, there are more chances of these complications like when radiation is directed to the lungs, scar tissue may build up in that area. The good thing is that the procedure is reversible. It has the possibility that due to the radiation exposure can cause inflammation of lungs and the membrane of heart along with heart compression.

Muscle of heart can be damaged when radiation is delivered to the chest; this condition is called cardiotoxicity or cardiac toxicity. When this happens, the ability of heart is reduced to pump sufficient blood to the whole body and it also disturbs the usual beat of the heart. The condition of cardiac toxicity is not only caused because of radiation, but it is also caused by certain chemotherapeutic drugs. Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is one of the most chemotherapeutic drugs is administrated along radiation therapy in treating mesothelioma cancer.

One thing to be noted if a patient receives highly specialized form of radiation therapy, he/she may rarely face these complications.  There are some very specialized methods of radiation therapy, which can reduce the possible side-effects:

• Proton Therapy
• Smartbeam Image Modulated Radiation Therapy
• Stereotactic Radiation Therapy

      Case Study of Side-Effects of Radiation Therapy on Mesothelioma Patients

      

In the year 2000, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has carry-out a study of these effects of radiation therapy, but before going through the surgical process on 88 patients of pleural mesothelioma.  Multiple symptoms are experienced by most of the patients. There are 55 patients complained about vomiting and nausea, 55 reported skin irritation and 54 felt fatigue. On the scale of side-effect severity, they were measured from scale 0, which is the mildest and up to scale 4, which is the most severe one. The good news is that most of the patients ranked 0 or 1; only four of them are on scale 4. 

So, choose the most specialized method of radiation therapy to avoid these side-effects and keep smiling!