Radiation therapy is one of the most important treatment options for lung cancer. Radiation therapy has been shown to improve survival of patients diagnosed with early stage and late stage lung cancers, according to the book "Clinical Oncology." But treatment by radiation has many short term and long term side effects.
Minor Side Effects
Lung cancer patients often experience several short-term side-effects following treatment by radiation therapy. The most common side-effects are fatigue, weakness and weight loss. This is because in addition to killing cancer cells, radiation therapy also affects normal healthy cells and weakens the body's immune system.
Patients may experience fatigue for up to 4 to 6 weeks following treatment, according to the "Clinical Oncology."
Patients treated with radiation therapy might also experience coughing and difficulty in swallowing.
Radiation therapy causes changes in skin areas that are affected by radiation. Dryness and peeling of skin may occur several weeks after treatment. Radiation therapy might also lead to a brief period of hair loss, according to LungCancerOnline.org.
Cardiotoxicity
Treatment by radiation might cause substantial heart damage (cardiotoxicity). In a 2005 study published in the journal "Seminars in Oncology," Prosnitz and colleagues reported that lung cancer treatment by radiation resulted in increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and deaths related to cardiovascular diseases. The authors also acknowledged that while there are significant improvements in radiation techniques over the past two decades, radiation therapy still causes heart damage. It is important to reduce exposure of the heart to radiation through careful planning and delivery of radiation dose.
Lung Inflammation and Damage to Spinal Cord
Radiation can cause damage to the lungs and lead to lung inflammation. This occurs in less than 5 percent of patients.
In rare cases, roughly one in every 1000 patients treated by radiation will suffer from damage caused by radiation to the spinal cord.
