Side Effects Of Brain Radiation For Lung Cancer

Risks for lung cancer patients to undergo preventative brain radiation therapy as a means to stop cancer from spreading to the brain.

Side effects of brain radiation for lung cancer.

Depending on the stage of small cell lung cancer sclc and other factors radiation therapy is used. Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue. Stereotactic radiosurgery srs focuses a high dose of radiation on one small area in the brain. Side effects from radiation treatment can vary depending on the area of the body being treated.

Side effects will depend on the area where radiation therapy is given. Learn more about possible side effects. Side effects of radiation to the brain. In limited stage sclc it might be used at the same time as chemotherapy chemo.

These delayed effects can include serious problems such as memory loss stroke like symptoms and poor brain function. To treat the tumor and lymph nodes in the chest. A new study is taking a closer look at the benefits vs. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays or particles to kill cancer cells.

Recent research advances and new technology have facilitated highly precise radiation delivery techniques which can reduce the impact on surrounding healthy tissue and the likelihood of side effects. Sometimes the whole brain is treated with radiation although the doses are often lower. This form of radiotherapy is usually reserved for people with smaller tumors that are not located too close to the center of the chest where radiation could affect other vital organs. Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells.

Giving chemo and radiation together is called concurrent chemoradiation. The radiation used to destroy cancer cells can also hurt normal cells in the area that is radiated. Radiation to the brain can also have side effects that show up later usually from 6 months to many years after treatment ends. Since the radiation is targeted side effects are typically less severe and offer better survival rates than whole brain therapy.

The goal is to destroy or damage the cancer without hurting too many healthy cells. Because radiation therapy is a localized treatment most side effects develop in the treatment area for lung cancer that is the chest. Radiation therapy treats cancer by using high energy waves to kill tumor cells.