Question 1

does radiotherapy cause skin ulcerations and blistering?

Accepted Answer

It can: The skin over areas that are receiving radiation can be damaged by the radiation.  Typically this is slight redness like a sunburn.  Depending on the dose of radiation there can be more severe damage such as skin ulceration or blistering.  Your radiation therapist will help with treating these areas if this develops.

Question 2

how often can you undergo radiotherapy?

Accepted Answer

It depends: Generally radiation therapy can only be given only once in one area.  However, you can have radiation therapy again, in different areas, right away. A radiation oncologist creates a MAP showing how much radiation different parts of your body have received and will tell you where additional radiation is possible.  You can have radiation treatments as frequently as twice a day.

Question 3

is radiotherapy a good option foto prolong life?

Accepted Answer

Can be: Radiation therapy is a treatment used for treating cancer.  In some circumstances, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate or breast cancer, its use in conjunction with other tools like surgery or chemotherapy, does improve cure rates for some and survival time for others.  In other cases radiation is used to treat cancer symptoms, but not for a survival benefit.

Question 4

why do you use immobilization in radiotherapy?

Accepted Answer

To target the cancer: Immobilization of a body part during radiation is so that the targeted area ("field") can be precisely radiated. This avoids radiation to healthy tissues and gives the cancer as directed a treatment as possible.

Question 5

what are the common side-effects of radiotherapy?

Accepted Answer

What part of body?: In general,  radiation may cause skin and mucosal damage: changes in color and thickening ( hardening), dry mouth.; worst scenarios: ulcers or fistulas, scars in internal organs such as lungs; bleeding from sigmoid colon in radiation to the prostate.Tiredness, feeling sick, eating and drinking changes, skin care, hair loss, changes in your blood, possible long-term side effects.

Question 6

what are radiotherapy tattoos?

Accepted Answer

Allows precision: Very small tattoo markings (size of a freckle or head of a pin) are used in radiation therapy to allow the radiation therapist to precisely aim the high-tech equipment at the area needing treatment. These tiny dots are crucial for accurate targeting of the tumor area. A tattoo is better than a magic marker dot because it won't wash off when you take a shower or go swimming.

Question 7

how does radiotherapy treatment work?

Accepted Answer

DNA damage: Radiation deposits energy in the tissues and causes damage to the dna of targeted cancer cells. This interferes with cancer cell division and ultimately causes cell death when the cell damage is beyond repair.

Question 8

does radiotherapy for prostate cause colitis?

Accepted Answer

It can.: The radiation treats any tissue that tends to reproduce and grow rapidly. This actually describes the lining of the intestine as well as cancer.  When the lining of the colon is affected, it falls off and allows the bacteria a chance to get to work on the layers underneath. This leads to inflation (itis) thus colon itis or more properly - colitis.

Question 9

is radiotherapy a good radiation for a meningomia ?

Accepted Answer

Benign tumors: Radiotherapy refers to medical treatment with radiation. Benign tumors are usually not treated with radiation therapy. Meningiomas make up the most common benign tumor of the brain. Although certain meningiomas are malignant, i.e. Cancerous, the majority of these tumors are benign and preferably treated with surgical resection over radiation. A surgical biopsy is needed to differentiate the two.

Question 10

how probable is it to get cancer from radiotherapy?

Accepted Answer

Uncommon but it is w: It is a well known complication of radiation therapy.Radiotherapy induced second cancers have been known to occur in  a small minority of treated patients especially when radiotherapy is used in younger aged people/children.

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Splitting and blistering after radiotherapy

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Does radiotherapy cause skin ulcerations and blistering?

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How often can you undergo radiotherapy?

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Is radiotherapy a good option foto prolong life?

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Why do you use immobilization in radiotherapy?

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What are the common side-effects of radiotherapy?

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What are radiotherapy tattoos?

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How does radiotherapy treatment work?

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Does radiotherapy for prostate cause colitis?

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Is radiotherapy a good radiation for a meningomia ?

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How probable is it to get cancer from radiotherapy?

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