Side Effects To Radiation Treatment For Breast Cancer

They may start during or right after treatment and last for.

Side effects to radiation treatment for breast cancer.

Early side effects such as nausea and fatigue usually don t last long. You won t lose the hair on your head. After your sessions are complete it may be several days or weeks before side effects clear up. Breast cancer treatments include surgery chemotherapy radiation hormonal therapies and more.

Mild to moderate fatigue. Doctors may recommend this therapy in combination with others such as surgery and chemotherapy. Swelling in the breast skin changes in the treated area similar to a sunburn redness skin peeling darkening of the skin. Common side effects during treatment may include.

You may hear your doctor refer to it as breast fibrosis or glandular atrophy or radiation fibrosis syndrome rfs. There are two kinds of radiation side effects. In this case breast fibrosis is a direct result of radiation damaging your skin s elasticity. Damage to healthy cells can cause side effects.

Radiation can be an effective treatment for breast cancer but it does have side effects. Side effects tend to be most pronounced toward the end of your radiation treatment. They re usually gone within a few weeks after treatment ends. Radiation not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells.

Not everyone experiences side effects of radiation. These side effects tend to be short term mild and treatable. Many people who get radiation therapy have fatigue. Fatigue is feeling exhausted and worn out.

However you may lose some hair under your arm or on the breast or chest area getting radiation this may be a concern for some men with breast cancer. The most common early side effects are fatigue feeling tired and skin changes. However breast fibrosis can also be long term side effect of radiotherapy. Just as the benefits of radiation are gradual you ll usually see a gradual onset of side effects.

Nausea is rare with radiation therapy to the breast. Learn more about breast cancer treatments and how to manage their side effects. Early and late effects of radiation therapy. Early side effects happen during or shortly after treatment.

The main short term side effects of external beam radiation therapy to the breast are.