Hearing that you need radiation can leave you with many questions. Radiation is a common cancer treatment, but doctors also use it for other health issues.
If your doctor prescribes radiation treatment for you or a loved one, they do it to help your health condition. Often, they’ve weighed the risks and benefits to determine that it’s the best course of action.
Understanding what radiation means and what to expect can ease your mind about getting this treatment.
What Is Radiation?
In simple terms, radiation is energy that moves as waves or particles. When we discuss radiation as a treatment, we mean electromagnetic radiation. X-rays and gamma rays are all electromagnetic radiation.
Radiation therapy is a form of targeted therapy. This means it mainly affects the area of your body it’s treating.
As a form of cancer treatment, it damages the cancer cells and interferes with their ability to grow and spread. It also initiates processes that eventually kill the cancer cells.
Types of Radiation Therapy
Doctors have different ways of delivering radiation treatment.
The two main types of radiation therapy are:
- External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) — EBRT targets specific areas of your body with high-energy radiation beams. Doctors deliver EBRT from special machines that deliver the radiation from outside of your body.
- Internal radiation therapy — Also called brachytherapy. Doctors place radioactive materials inside your body, near or within the cancer itself. They can apply a higher total dose of radiation than EBRT to a more limited area.
Why Do You Need Radiation?
Doctors have used radiation therapy to treat cancer since as far back as 1899, according to the American Cancer Society.
Your doctor may use radiation along with other cancer treatments. It can help kill cancer cells and shrink a tumor. This makes it easier for doctors to remove it from your body.
Today, doctors also use radiation to treat other health conditions.
Which cancers benefit from radiation therapy?
Doctors can use radiation therapy for many types of cancer. Half of all people with cancer receive some form of radiation therapy, according to MedlinePlus.
But this also means that even if you have cancer, you may not need radiation therapy. Your doctor will go over whether radiation can help treat your cancer.
Common cancers that doctors treat with EBRT include:
- Brain cancer.
- Breast cancer.
- Head and neck cancer.
- Lung cancer.
- Prostate cancer.
- Rectal cancer.
- Skin cancer.
Common cancers that doctors treat with brachytherapy include cervical, uterine, and vaginal cancers, as well as prostate cancer. In certain cases, brachytherapy can also be used to treat lung, rectal, head and neck, breast, and skin cancers.
What other conditions does radiation therapy treat?
Doctors may also use external beam radiation therapy for noncancer health issues.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis causes damage to the joints, joint pain, and stiffness. When lifestyle changes and medicine stop working, steroid joint injections help with the pain. Smaller joints, such as those in the hand, are difficult to inject. Instead, doctors can use low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT).
LDRT can help reduce pain and improve mobility.
To get LDRT, you need a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. You also need to have tried oral medicine and steroid injections. LDRT isn’t an option for other types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, or if your arthritis is very advanced.
Keloid scars
Keloid scars are very exaggerated skin reactions after trauma. You may see excessive scarring or growths on the skin after surgery or even a simple ear piercing. After doctors remove a keloid scar, external radiation therapy can prevent the area from scarring again. It’s not useful if the keloid is already formed.
This Is What Happens During Radiation Treatment
Radiation happens at the clinic or hospital. You will change into a gown, go into the radiation room, and lie down on a special table. Radiation therapists will assist in positioning you.
Over a loudspeaker, the radiation technician may give you any necessary instructions, such as holding your breath for several seconds and staying still. Most treatments take less than 20 minutes. That usually includes getting on and off the treatment table.
Radiation treatment is an easy and painless procedure. Think of it like an x-ray. It’s invisible; you can’t feel radiation as the machine moves around your body.
How often will you get radiation?
How many sessions you will need depends on the type of cancer or other condition. For cancer, it depends on the cancer’s location, size, and treatment goals.
In general, if you need external radiation for cancer, you will get it every day, Monday through Friday, for several days or for several weeks.
When treating osteoarthritis, doctors usually space LDRT out to every other day, Monday through Friday.
What Happens During Internal Radiation Treatment?
Brachytherapy typically requires minor surgery. A surgeon will place the radioactive material directly into or near the cancer.
The type of radioactive material involved depends on the kind of treatment. Brachytherapy is either temporary (meaning they remove the radiation later) or permanent (meaning they leave it in).
What happens during temporary brachytherapy?
With temporary brachytherapy, the doctor places needles or tubes into the tumor or tumor bed. They then apply a small radiation source through the tube. They keep the radiation there for a specific time and then remove it.
High-dose rate treatments last 10 to 20 minutes per session, though more time may be needed for planning. They’re outpatient procedures and don’t require you to stay in the hospital overnight.
What happens during permanent brachytherapy?
Permanent brachytherapy is also called radioactive seed implantation. During this procedure, the doctor implants radioactive seeds in or near the tumor. Doctors use a special needle and imaging to place the seeds.
Radioactive seeds slowly release radiation to kill the cancer or shrink the tumor. Eventually, the seeds decay and become inert.
Side Effects of Radiation Treatment
Most people have minimal or no activity restrictions during radiation treatment. They often get treatment and go about their daily lives, such as going to work or school.
You may feel very tired at certain points of your treatment. Your doctor will inform you if you need to restrict any activity while getting radiation therapy.
Different radiation treatments have different side effects. It also depends on what part of the body is being treated.
The most common include:
- Fatigue — Feeling tired after several weeks of treatment is common.
- Diarrhea or Loose Stools — This can often occur with pelvis radiation such as in rectal or gynecologic cancer. It’s treated with diet modification or medications.
- Nausea — This can occur if the upper abdomen is being treated and can be managed with anti-nausea medications.
- Lymphedema — Radiation to your lymph nodes can increase your risk of lymphedema. Lymphedema is long-term swelling that happens when lymph nodes get damaged. It occurs when lymph fluid builds up between the skin and muscle. This is mainly seen with breast cancer treatment.
- Skin reaction — Depending on how many sessions of external radiation you have, your skin may feel like you’ve had a sunburn. Doctors can prescribe antibiotics and anti-itch ointments if your skin starts to peel, crack, or bleed. Brachytherapy doesn’t cause a skin reaction.
You may experience other side effects depending on the body part. Your doctor will go over what you can expect and how to manage other potential side effects.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on , and was last reviewed on .