We provide weekly clinics to assess each patient’s side effects to ensure that it is within normal limits and provide access to a range of solutions that are suitable for patients undergoing radiotherapy.
Radiation causes severe, painful skin burns and darkening of the skin
Radiation is painless, and majority of patients experience only mild redness and darkening of the skin, much like a suntan.
Using specialized radiotherapy techniques such as IMRT or partial breast irradiation, we can not only minimize the dose to the skin but also reduce the total surface area of skin being radiated.
Radiation skin side effects are mild and well tolerated by all patients, the side effects will resolve 2-4 weeks after treatment.
Radiation causes severe fibrosis of the breast tissue resulting in poor cosmesis and asymmetry of the breast
Fibrosis of the breast is uncommon, and it is mild in majority of cases. It does not change the cosmesis of the breast.
Breast radiation fibrosis genetic testing is offered to all patients to determine their likelihood of developing breast fibrosis. If they are more prone to developing fibrosis, our radiation doctors will tailor a specific radiotherapy plan for them to minimize the risk of fibrosis.
Radiation fibrosis of the breast after radiotherapy is uncommon, if it does occur, it is often mild.
Radiation for left sided breast cancer damages my heart and leads to increased risk of ischaemic heart disease in the long term.
With newer radiation techniques, the dose to the heart is minimal and newer studies show that it does not result in significant long term heart disease.
DIBH and VMAT are both techniques employed to reduce dose to the heart.
Modern radiotherapy does not increase your risk of heart disease.
Radiotherapy to the breast causes lung fibrosis and damages the lung leading to poor lung function and respiratory symptoms such as cough.
Lung fibrosis due to breast radiation rarely presents with clinical symptoms. It is usually mild and can be treated with medication.
VMAT can reduce the dose to the lungs and lower the risk of lung fibrosis
Breast radiation-induced lung fibrosis is uncommon and rarely causes symptoms.
Radiation will cause me to have another cancer in the near future.
Radiation induced second malignancy is rare (<1%) and only occurs 10-20 years after radiation.
We minimize the amount of normal tissue exposed to radiation by employing techniques such as partial breast irradiation. This will result in a smaller area of tissues that are at risk for developing a second cancer.
Radiation induced malignancies are extremely uncommon and fully treating the current cancer is more important and can be life saving.