Understanding Breast Cancer Radiotherapy

Even though radiotherapy is a standard treatment for most types of cancer, there are quite a few patients suffering from breast cancer that question the need for it after surgical removal of breast cancer tissues. It is a fact that around 30% of women that do not undergo radiotherapy experience cancer recurrence, even though they have gone through surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from their breast. Physicians often find it quite difficult to differentiate the healthy tissue around the cancer since it is somewhat complicated in measuring with detail the amounts of cancer cells. There is a possibility that there might be skip areas between cancerous tissues and tiny difficult to find satellite cancer tumors surrounding the area. It is also possible for cancer cells to travel via the breast duct system and develop outside the location of biopsy. Radiotherapy is very beneficial since it has a better likelihood of eradicating those random cancer cells developing outside the main breast cancer areas.

Radiotherapy is basically a cancer treatment that uses a specific machine called a linear accelerator. This machine transforms radioactive particles into beams of high energy radiation which is applied to specific areas of the body. When a specific tissue area is exposed to these radiation beams, the dividing cells in the cancerous areas are influenced more compared to resting normal cells. Subsequently, cancerous cells are more affected by radiation than healthy cells even though both types of cells experience radiation damage. Factually, normal healthy cells are more capable for self repair after being exposed to radiation compared to cancerous cells. Exposure to radiation causes cancerous cells to enter the cell death cycle or also known as apoptosis during the following cell division.

Physicians may recommend radiotherapy focused on areas of the chest after breast surgery or mastectomy if the breast cancer has infiltrated the surgical margins or if the cancer has metastasized into the lymph nodes. Administering radiotherapy increases the survival rate and significantly decreases the recurrence rate.

It is quite difficult to decide if radiotherapy is always needed to treat breast cancer. This is because that the type of cancer therapy varies from patient to patient and multiple factors influence the final therapeutic approaches. These factors include the stage of the cancer, the overall wellness of the patient, the radiotherapy technology available and many more. For smaller cancer lesions with a wide apparent margin of healthy tissue without metastasis to the local lymph nodes, radiotherapy may not be required particularly if the patient has large deposits of fat tissues in the breasts. The older a woman becomes the increase of fatty tissue to glandular tissue occurs, particularly in the breast. It is rather usual for a woman’s breasts to have major amounts of fatty tissue which isn’t essentially correlated to obesity. As a matter of fact, skinny women may a have a large percentage of fatty tissue in their breasts. Subsequently, the amount of fat in the breasts can be a factor in deciding if radiotherapy is required or not post mastectomy.

Just like any other treatment modality, several side effects can occur with radiotherapy. The most common side effects are changes to the skin around the breasts, with manifestations such inflammation and redness which often eventually heals naturally. About ninety percent of women experience amazing cosmetic outcomes when the lesions heal. On the other hand, ten percent of women suffer from breast shrinkage, fibrous tissue development, decrease skin sensitivity and skin elasticity in the affected area of the breast. It is wise to consult a physician on the management to treat the long term side effects of radiotherapy to ensure a better quality of life.