Worried about partial breast 3D conformal beam radiation therapy

[hoopoe]

Hello. I am 56 years old and had a hysterectomy at age 45.  I had a small < 1 cm Stage I non-aggressive tumor fairly close to the chest wall. I just finished the partial breast 3D conformal beam radiation as part of the national clinical trial.  My doctor had described to me the "super duper" machine that avoided lungs, heart, etc., meaning the intensity-modulated radiation.  I thought that's what I would be getting.  Then I found out after my treatment that I didn't get it and I read that some doctors are concerned about the amount of radiation with the therapy I had.  I had the kind which uses MLC wedges inserted into the machine. So now I am really afraid that I got too much radiation and that I will develop a secondary cancer in 5 years.  I am just beating up on myself because I didn't choose the Mammosite (he said any of the treatments would be okay for me).  I think I need either some reassurance or I need to know the truth about how much radiation I got and that something bad could really happen.



Thank you very much.

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear hoopoe:  Without reviewing the radiation records, it is impossible for us to speculate on the type, field or dose of radiation.  These are questions to ask the radiation oncologist.  The incidence of major complications (heart, lung, and secondary cancer) remains very low with today's radiation techniques.  Further, there remains some controversy over whether mammosite provides adequate local control.  Your radiation oncologist will know exactly what was in the radiation field and the dose and could give you a better idea of what to expect.