Radiation Treatment
The Breast Cancer is spreading at a great speed and one out of ten women in United States of America is supposed to be a Breast Cancer patient. Once the cancer is detected and the stage of the cancer is known, then comes the treatment. There are few ways of treatment for Breast Cancer including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
In this method, the high energy x-rays are used to kill the cancerous cells or to stop them from growing and spreading any further. Radiation Therapy is of two types; the External Radiation Therapy and the Internal Radiation Therapy. In the External Radiation Therapy, the machine is used outside the body to send the radiations towards the cancer while the Internal Radiation Therapy uses radioactive substances that are sealed in a needle that are placed directly into or near the cancer. The type of the radiation is selected and used as per the stage of the cancer.
It is important to note that radiation is must for all the Breast Cancer patients who have undergone breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy. The radiation if avoided the chances of the patient to die increases. It is important that once the radiation therapy is scheduled, then there shouldn’t be any break in it. It is better to start with a delay but do not miss any of the sessions. Radiation Therapy is given before the surgery in order to shrink the size of tumor and it is also given after the surgery too as a main treatment.
If we compare chemo vs radiation breast cancer treatment, it is seen that generally chemotherapy is given after the surgery and radiation in Breast Cancer. Nowadays, the radiation and chemotherapy are given in sequence and have become the standard. It is important to discuss it with your doctor about the chemotherapy and radiation given at the same time or the other.
Right after detecting that the type of the cancer is Inflammatory Breast Cancer, then comes the treatment. Earlier it was treated only by a surgery and the mortality rate was 100 percent at that time. Later the surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiation too. This improved the prognosis for a woman with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The sequence is mostly surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In this particular type of cancer, the risk of recurrence of cancer remains high even after the use of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Side Effects Of Radiation Therapy
There are few side effects that occur due to radiation therapy. The treated area gets red or becomes red. Patient feels fatigue 2-3 weeks after the treatment begins. The fatigue increases at the time of treatment and it goes away one month after the treatment. The blood counts are reduced.
Latest In Radiation Therapy
The latest form of radiation treatment for breast Cancer is named as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy also called IMRT, which reduces the burns of the skin. A lot more advancement is coming in with the increase in researches and studies.
