What are the side-effects of Radiation Therapy?
It is common knowledge to all by now that mostly all the treatments of Cancer have their share of side effects.
This is true.It's because all the treatments are aimed at 'killing cells' which are cancerous and in this process even the healthy cells are damaged.
These side effects or sequelae, become a hindrance in the life of a Cancer patient.Some of these side effects are seen right after the treatment and vanish eventually, while some of them appear later, and stay for a long time.
In this article, we will discuss about the acute (short term) and chronic (long term) side effects of Radiation therapy.
What are the Acute side effects of Radiation Therapy?
When the tumor is growing inside the body, it develops a micro-environment for itself.And the sudden interruption to the tumor growth process caused by Radiation leads to the following side effects.
Management of these side effects-
What are the Chronic side effects of Radiation Therapy?
The most important thing about chronic effects of radiation is, that it is all avoidable to an extent.
Prevention reduces most of the risk, but these side effects are permanent.
Management of these side effects-
It is common knowledge to all by now that mostly all the treatments of Cancer have their share of side effects.
This is true.It's because all the treatments are aimed at 'killing cells' which are cancerous and in this process even the healthy cells are damaged.
These side effects or sequelae, become a hindrance in the life of a Cancer patient.Some of these side effects are seen right after the treatment and vanish eventually, while some of them appear later, and stay for a long time.
In this article, we will discuss about the acute (short term) and chronic (long term) side effects of Radiation therapy.
What are the Acute side effects of Radiation Therapy?
When the tumor is growing inside the body, it develops a micro-environment for itself.And the sudden interruption to the tumor growth process caused by Radiation leads to the following side effects.
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| Dry desquamation following Radiotherapy. |
- Side effects like diarrhea, mucositis or inflammation/ulceration of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract, and skin desquamation or scaling of the epithelium of the skin, are seen immediately after radiation therapy.
- The site of irradiation causes changes in the type of side effects experienced.
- But one side effect remains constant and is found to affect almost everybody.And that is fatigue.
- Most of these acute side effects disappear shortly and they respond well to the medications.
Management of these side effects-
- Diphenoxy hydrochloride with atropine sulfate is given for diarrhea,
- Viscous lidocaine is given for inflammation of esophagus (esophagitis).
- However, break in the treatment should not be prolonged due to these side effects.
- Prophylactic or preventive treatment can also work well.
- In patients undergoing RT of thoracic area, good results have been obtained using sucralfate for esophagitis.
- It is not true that elderly patients are at a higher risk for developing these side effects.
What are the Chronic side effects of Radiation Therapy?
The most important thing about chronic effects of radiation is, that it is all avoidable to an extent.
Prevention reduces most of the risk, but these side effects are permanent.
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| a fistula |
- Well, some of the chronic effects of radiation would be necrosis (dead tissue formation), fibrosis (thickening of tissue) and fistula (abnormal opening).
- This mainly occurs due to damage to the slowly proliferating tissues because of radiation as well as damage to the blood supply or vascularity.
- These chronic side effects are also dependent on the site of irradiation.
- These side effects can vary from mild fibrosis to secondary malignancies.However, risk of developing secondary malignancies after radiation is not very high.But, an exception could be in children suffering from hereditary retinoblastoma, in which, after radiation, osteosarcoma arises in the irradiated bones.
Management of these side effects-
- Pneumonitis is treated with bronchodilators and sometimes with corticosteroids.
- Radiation nephritis can be managed using angiotensin II receptor antagonist as a prevention and cure.
- As a preventive medication, pilocarpine is used in head and neck cancer to decrease the incidence
- of xerostomia or 'dry mouth syndrome'
- Also, zinc sulfate can be used to reduce taste alterations in patients with head and neck cancer.
- As a preventive measure, the best technique possible should be used.
- For example, risk of chronic edema in case of soft tissue sarcoma patients can be avoided if the entire affected area is not given radiation altogether.
- Newer techniques like 3D CRT, IMRT, and inverse treatment planning are helpful to reduce these side effects.
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