What Are the Side Effects of Radiation Oncology?

What are the side-effects of radiation oncology? Maneesh Gossain, MD, a board-certified radiation oncologist at Central Florida Cancer Care Center shares his insights on the different types of radiation therapy used and what kinds of side-effects can be associated with them.
“Some of the common questions I get from patients are ‘Are there side-effects to radiation?’ and ‘What are the side-effects?’” says Dr. Gossain. “There are side-effects for the different kinds of cancers. However, we can minimize those, and it all depends on the volume of tumor that we are treating.”
“We commonly treat skin cancers, breast cancers, prostate cancers, and lung cancers. Those side-effects are all going to be different, and it’s important that you sit down with your doctor to discuss those side-effects. Skin cancer tends to be the easiest (to treat). We have a very small area and use a superficial electron beam that can control the depth of radiation. It will give you a skin reaction and occasionally fatigue. These are acute reactions that disappear once the radiation is completed.”
For breast cancer, we get skin reaction and fatigue,” Dr. Gossain continues.”On the left side, we have to be concerned about the heart and the (blood) vessels, so we take care to avoid those. For lung cancer, it can be a little bit more complicated. There are peripheral lung cancers and centrally-located lung cancers. We are concerned about your esophagus and spinal cord. And with prostate cancer, you can get urethritis (inflammation of the urethra) and proctitis (inflammation of the rectum and anus) as we’re avoiding the bladder and rectum.
According to Dr. Gossain, many people misunderstand the potential side effects of radiation oncology, making a consultation with their physician essential for obtaining clear insight.
“There are common misconceptions that people get nausea, vomiting, lose their hair and teeth with radiation,” he says. “But these are often untrue, and it’s important to sit down with your physician to review your images, pathology reports, and discuss all side-effects with you.”
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