Question: sideaffects of using radiation for treating cancer.

Rob Brass answered on 13 Jun 2016:

The side effects depend completely on what we’re treating, and we do our best to minimise any side effects. However, these are some of the common ones:

If we are treating a lung tumour then one of the common side effects is called ‘pneumonitis’, this is where the lung tissue gets inflamed and causes shortness of breath and a cough.

If we are treating something in the head and neck area then a sore throat can be quite common, as well as dry mouth. This happens when the radiation damages the saliva glands; if patients get this then they will have it for he rest of their lives and have to use man-made saliva to swallow.

IF we’re treating in the pelvis then patients can sometimes get diarrhoea.

In general, patients can also sometimes get quite tired and occasionally they may get some skin irritation where the beam enters.

I should stress though that not all patients receive side effects and for those that do they normally clear up shortly after treatment ends. We’re always looking at how we reduce these side effects but in my opinion it’s still a small price to pay to overcome cancer!