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Effects of radiation therapy
I am not a doctor. I am a breast cancer survivor. Keep that in mind as you read this.
Radiation kills errant cancer cells. Radiation can help in certain circumstances to zap bone cancers and give pain relief. Radiation also causes permanent damage to everything in it's path.
Skin - after radiation there is no elasticity to skin. This is one of the reasons that expanders are not a good idea after radiation to the breast area. That skin will not stretch as it should and in fact could tear. If you have radiation to the breast area and have already lost your breast to a mastectomy, the skin "melds" to the tissue underneath it, becoming hard and sometimes painful.
Ribs - Radiation goes past the skin and tissue to everything beneath it in its path. Ribs get weakened from radiation. Example: when expanders are placed under radiated skin, with each fill the expander should stretch the skin above it into a breast like shape. You already know that the skin doesn't stretch but also the ribs can be pushed inwards from the expansion process after each fill.
Lungs - You stand an equal chance of one of your lungs being radiated and the potential for cancer there. A change in how the lung functions, Thickening of the lining of the lungs, Inflammation of the lungs, Difficulty breathing. •decreased lung volume (lungs can't hold as much air), •chronic (ongoing) dry cough,
Heart - Radiation getting through to the heart? It absolutely can if you're radiated on the left side at the breast area. Most survivors who received radiation will not have a problem with their heart. But in some, the radiation can damage the heart in one of several ways, including damaging the heart muscle, the valves, or the coronary arteries. Damage to the heart muscle is called cardiomyopathy. This term is used when the muscle does not work as well as it should. It generally affects the left ventricle (chamber) more than other parts of the heart, causing it to be stiff and less responsive to changes. Usually when someone is at rest the heart does not have to work hard. But when the heart needs to work harder, such as during pregnancy or strenuous physical activity, the stiff left ventricle may not be capable of increased pumping action. If this happens, the blood that is being pumped through the left side of the heart (atrium and ventricle) does not get pumped out fast enough and some of it “backlogs” in the small blood vessels of the lungs. The oxygen in the lungs is transferred to these small blood vessels, and so when the vessels become engorged with the backlogged blood, the oxygen can not be transferred properly. Though this problem, called congestive heart failure, can be quite serious, there are medications that can help.
Radiation can also damage the valves in the heart, especially the two valves on the left side of the heart (mitral and aortic). If a valve is damaged, it can lead to either being "leaky" so that blood flows backwards into the chamber it came from or it can be stiff and not open very well, slowing the flow of blood. This can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems with the heart.
A third problem that radiation can cause is premature coronary artery disease. The network of small blood vessels on the outside of the heart feed the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrition. The interiors of healthy blood vessels are smooth. Radiation can roughen the inside of blood vessels. These rough spots provide a site for fatty deposits (plaques) to develop in coronary arteries and other arteries and veins. Calcium deposits can harden the plaques resulting in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
Coronary artery disease (coronary = heart, artery = blood vessel, disease = what we don't want) is when one or more of the blood vessels or branches gets clogged with plaque. It is similar to a clogged pipe that does not allow much to flow by it. If this happens, the heart muscle cannot get enough oxygen and nutrition for all of its work. So when the heart needs to work harder and it cannot get enough oxygen or nutrition, it generally causes some chest pain (angina) which will last a few minutes until the oxygen gets gets through the partially clogged artery. If the blood vessel is fully blocked, the part of the muscle that was depending upon the oxygen from that vessel dies (a heart attack). If it is a small branching blood vessel going to a small amount of heart muscle, then the person has a small or minor heart attack. But if it is a larger vessel feeding a larger amount of heart muscle, the heart attack is serious and can be life-threatening.
Endocrine - Thyroid issues are very common after radiation for breast cancer.
I've had radiation and also the boost to the mastectomy area. I wasn't happy about having to do it. I had late stage cancer and would have chosen radiation anyway. I wasn't going to give breast cancer any opportunity to come back. I hope and pray that they will find a way to stop cancer or at least cure it without causing it at the same time.
Best wishes while you decide what's best for you. RESEARCH!!!
Radiation kills errant cancer cells. Radiation can help in certain circumstances to zap bone cancers and give pain relief. Radiation also causes permanent damage to everything in it's path.
Skin - after radiation there is no elasticity to skin. This is one of the reasons that expanders are not a good idea after radiation to the breast area. That skin will not stretch as it should and in fact could tear. If you have radiation to the breast area and have already lost your breast to a mastectomy, the skin "melds" to the tissue underneath it, becoming hard and sometimes painful.
Ribs - Radiation goes past the skin and tissue to everything beneath it in its path. Ribs get weakened from radiation. Example: when expanders are placed under radiated skin, with each fill the expander should stretch the skin above it into a breast like shape. You already know that the skin doesn't stretch but also the ribs can be pushed inwards from the expansion process after each fill.
Lungs - You stand an equal chance of one of your lungs being radiated and the potential for cancer there. A change in how the lung functions, Thickening of the lining of the lungs, Inflammation of the lungs, Difficulty breathing. •decreased lung volume (lungs can't hold as much air), •chronic (ongoing) dry cough,
Heart - Radiation getting through to the heart? It absolutely can if you're radiated on the left side at the breast area. Most survivors who received radiation will not have a problem with their heart. But in some, the radiation can damage the heart in one of several ways, including damaging the heart muscle, the valves, or the coronary arteries. Damage to the heart muscle is called cardiomyopathy. This term is used when the muscle does not work as well as it should. It generally affects the left ventricle (chamber) more than other parts of the heart, causing it to be stiff and less responsive to changes. Usually when someone is at rest the heart does not have to work hard. But when the heart needs to work harder, such as during pregnancy or strenuous physical activity, the stiff left ventricle may not be capable of increased pumping action. If this happens, the blood that is being pumped through the left side of the heart (atrium and ventricle) does not get pumped out fast enough and some of it “backlogs” in the small blood vessels of the lungs. The oxygen in the lungs is transferred to these small blood vessels, and so when the vessels become engorged with the backlogged blood, the oxygen can not be transferred properly. Though this problem, called congestive heart failure, can be quite serious, there are medications that can help.
Radiation can also damage the valves in the heart, especially the two valves on the left side of the heart (mitral and aortic). If a valve is damaged, it can lead to either being "leaky" so that blood flows backwards into the chamber it came from or it can be stiff and not open very well, slowing the flow of blood. This can lead to congestive heart failure and other problems with the heart.
A third problem that radiation can cause is premature coronary artery disease. The network of small blood vessels on the outside of the heart feed the heart muscle with oxygen and nutrition. The interiors of healthy blood vessels are smooth. Radiation can roughen the inside of blood vessels. These rough spots provide a site for fatty deposits (plaques) to develop in coronary arteries and other arteries and veins. Calcium deposits can harden the plaques resulting in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
Coronary artery disease (coronary = heart, artery = blood vessel, disease = what we don't want) is when one or more of the blood vessels or branches gets clogged with plaque. It is similar to a clogged pipe that does not allow much to flow by it. If this happens, the heart muscle cannot get enough oxygen and nutrition for all of its work. So when the heart needs to work harder and it cannot get enough oxygen or nutrition, it generally causes some chest pain (angina) which will last a few minutes until the oxygen gets gets through the partially clogged artery. If the blood vessel is fully blocked, the part of the muscle that was depending upon the oxygen from that vessel dies (a heart attack). If it is a small branching blood vessel going to a small amount of heart muscle, then the person has a small or minor heart attack. But if it is a larger vessel feeding a larger amount of heart muscle, the heart attack is serious and can be life-threatening.
Endocrine - Thyroid issues are very common after radiation for breast cancer.
I've had radiation and also the boost to the mastectomy area. I wasn't happy about having to do it. I had late stage cancer and would have chosen radiation anyway. I wasn't going to give breast cancer any opportunity to come back. I hope and pray that they will find a way to stop cancer or at least cure it without causing it at the same time.
Best wishes while you decide what's best for you. RESEARCH!!!
I clicked on the thread that bluebutterfly kindly provided. It doesn't address the question of the original poster - which is the what are the long-term effects of radiation. These are extensive - radiation therapy has long-reaching effects on the body's systems - particularly if rec'd at a young age - I was under 20 - it caused my later breast cancer. It is the reason I am at substantial increased risk for stroke and heart disease (it causes hardening of the arteries). It increases risk of thyroid disease and cancer. And so much more. It is the gift that keeps on giving (and not in a good way).
Researchers have been following radiation patients for years and are always coming out with new findings on the long-term effects of radiation.
This is not to say that it isn't useful for treating certain cancers - after all it kept me alive long enough to have several good years before the onslaught of other cancers.
Also, nowadays more is known and more care is taken than was done 20 years ago when I had it - lower doses are given and there are better tools available to target the dosage more precisely.
Sorry to be so baldly scary. I recommend demanding a frank and full discussion about radiation and its side effects - both short term and long term with the radiation oncologist.
Researchers have been following radiation patients for years and are always coming out with new findings on the long-term effects of radiation.
This is not to say that it isn't useful for treating certain cancers - after all it kept me alive long enough to have several good years before the onslaught of other cancers.
Also, nowadays more is known and more care is taken than was done 20 years ago when I had it - lower doses are given and there are better tools available to target the dosage more precisely.
Sorry to be so baldly scary. I recommend demanding a frank and full discussion about radiation and its side effects - both short term and long term with the radiation oncologist.
Here is a link to a previous thread that relates to your question:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/side-effects/show/1075741
Best wishes...
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/side-effects/show/1075741
Best wishes...
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