Radiotherapy emits precise amounts of high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiotherapy stops cancer cells from proliferating while minimizing damage to healthy tissue and has been shown to improve breast cancer survival rates.
These breast cancers can be treated with radiation therapy
- After breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy, radiation therapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in the breast.
- Radiotherapy can be the primary treatment for breast cancer if the surgeon believes the tumor cannot be safely removed, if the patient’s health does not allow surgery, or if the patient chooses not to undergo surgery.
- The cancer has metastasized to the bones or brain.
- After the cancer has returned, for pain relief or other symptoms.
What are the radiotherapy treatments for breast cancer?
- The breast cancer radiation therapy that most people are familiar with is external radiation radiotherapy, and is the most common type of treatment for breast cancer. It works by focusing a beam of radiation from a machine to the target site, the site of the cancer lesion.
- The other type is brachytherapy, which focuses on using an implant to deliver radiation to the inside of the cancer. Doctors will use catheters or small catheters for breast cancer patients to implant radioactive particles or small balls (the size of a large grain of rice) inside the breast near the location of the cancer. Noninvasive brachytherapy delivers an enhanced dose of radiation at the surgical incision site and can be used alone or in combination with external radiation radiotherapy. Tumor size, location, or other factors will determine whether a patient is a good candidate for this type of radiation therapy.
What are the side effects of radiation therapy?
Radiotherapy is painless, but sometimes the following side effects can occur.
- Redness, discomfort, dryness, and blistering of the skin at the treatment site, and your doctor will recommend ways to treat these symptoms if they occur. It usually takes up to 1 year for the redness to go away.
- Fatigue.
- Fatigue, which usually occurs 2 to 3 weeks after treatment begins, increases with the duration of treatment and disappears about 1 month after treatment ends. Fatigue does not incapacitate the person. Most patients will relieve fatigue by taking a nap or going to bed early.
- Decreased blood counts. Your doctor may order regular blood checks, especially if you are receiving chemotherapy.
- Smaller and harder breasts may affect the choice of breast reconstruction.
- If the axillary lymph nodes are irradiated, lymphedema or swelling may occur.
Side effects of brachytherapy are similar to those of external radiation radiotherapy, including redness, bruising, chest pain, infection, weakness, and increased risk of rib fracture.
Technology for breast cancer radiation therapy continues to advance, but some of the following long-term side effects are still sometimes unavoidable.
- Rib fractures, which heal spontaneously without treatment (less than 1%).
- Pneumonia, which resolves spontaneously (less than 1%).
- Heart damage (previous methods of radiotherapy produced more symptoms, newer techniques avoid direct irradiation of the heart).
- scarring.
- Rarely, radiation therapy can cause other tumors, such as angiosarcoma.