The Health Blog » Cancer

IMMEDIATE SIDE EFFECTS OF RADIATION – INTRODUCTION

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:58:10 +0000

Thus radiation to the mouth, throat or nose can cause soreness and sometimes ulceration. Radiation to the stomach can cause a vague stomach ache, loss of appetite and nausea. Radiation to the intestines can cause diarrhoea. Radiation to the lungs can cause a dry irritating cough. Radiation to the bladder can cause cystitis-stinging and burning when passing, urine and a desire to pass urine frequently. Radiation to the skin can cause redness, soreness and ‘peeling’.

It is important to try not to place any extra demands on these areas during radiation. For example, you will be asked not to rub skin that is being radiated, and to avoid tight clothing and hot or cold applications. Steps will be taken to prevent infection in any of these areas—for example, by using antiseptic mouth washes if the mouth is being irradiated. Any infection that does occur must be treated promptly.

The bone marrow is another tissue which normally contains a high proportion of actively dividing cells. However, radiation of part of the bone marrow doesn’t usually cause any symptoms provided the rest of the marrow is normal. A large proportion of your active marrow must be irradiated to produce any change in radiation treatment the blood count. Even then, you would be unlikely to experience any symptoms as a result.

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Cancer

SOME ‘COSTS’ OF RADIATION TREATMENT – SIDE EFFECTS

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:57:31 +0000

Now let’s just see what this means for you in real life—what symptoms can result from those reactions?

These symptoms fall into two distinct groups. There are acute symptoms which occur during or immediately after radiation. There are also delayed symptoms that can occur long after radiation. The severity and nature of both acute and delayed symptoms depend on the type and dose of radiation and on what tissues are irradiated.

Many of the immediate symptoms are due directly to damage to actively dividing cells. There is normally a high proportion of actively dividing cells throughout the linings of the whole intestinal tract from mouth to anus, the whole respiratory tract from nose to bronchial tubes, and the bladder. The skin is another surface which is kept healthy by frequent replacement of its cells with new ones. Radiation stops the normal process of constant renewal of these surfaces.

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Cancer

BREAST CANCER TREATMENT: CHEMOTHERAPY

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:33:30 +0000

If there is thought to be a high risk of cancer spreading beyond your breast or its surrounding lymph glands following surgery, treatment with anti-cancer drugs may be advised.

Whereas radiotherapy attacks cancer cells in the specific area at which the X-ray beam is directed, the drugs used in chemotherapy can kill cancer cells throughout the body.

When is chemotherapy necessary?

Chemotherapy increases the chance of cure for pre-menopausal women whose cancer has spread to their auxiliary lymph glands. Younger women with very rapidly growing breast cancers may also benefit from this type of treatment, even when there has been no spread to the lymph glands.

The role of chemotherapy is less clear for post-menopausal women. Clinical trials are currently underway to evaluate its effect in these cases.

Receiving the treatment

Each woman is assessed individually, and the most appropriate combination of drugs as well as the timing and duration of treatment are decided upon. The most common combination of drugs used as a preventative or adjuvant treatment is cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil – known as CMF. Other commonly used drugs are adriamycin and vincristine.

You may be given the drugs by injection, or as a combination of injections and tablets. The injections take about 5 to 10 minutes to administer, and adjuvant chemotherapy is usually given in an outpatients’ clinic over a period of 4 to 6 months. The drugs are administered through a needle inserted into a vein in the back of your hand or forearm.

Before you receive any drugs, a sample of your blood will be taken for a blood count.

Side-effects

Different drugs have different side-effects, and the doctor and chemotherapy nurse will explain these to you before your treatment begins. The most common side-effects are nausea, tiredness, and effects on the blood count. Some drugs cause extensive hair loss, whereas others cause little or none.

All the side-effects will stop as soon as the chemotherapy comes to an end. Any hair lost will grow back as thick as it was before.

Do discuss any side-effects you experience with the doctor or nurse, as it may be possible for you to be given something to improve the symptoms.

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