Are the side effects of radiation therapy usually worse than those of chemotherapy?

Yes/No: The side effects are different. Radiation side effects are local. It depends on the site being treated. For example, redness irritation of skin if breast is being treated, soreness in the mouth if an oral lesion is being treated. Chemotherapy effects are systemic. It can lower blood counts and have systemic side effects.

Not generally.: Radiation is a local or regional treatment. Chemotherapy goes all over in the bloodstream. Therefore chemotherapy has a greater chance to affect more things and have more potential side effects. However each patient is different and radiation can be worse than chemotherapy if it causes significant side effect where it is being aimed. This depends then on the actual area being radiated.

Adverse effects: Depends. When few normal tissues are exposed to radiotherapy, it causes few side effects. The bigger the fields, the bigger the toxicity. I switched from medical oncology to radiatin therapy because i thought (and still do) that the benefits were more universal, and the side effects fewer.

Radiation side effec: It all depends on the type of chemotherapy and the part of the body being radiated. In my experience, most patients report that the radiation was easier than the chemo, e.g. With breast ca., but there are exceptions.