Side Effects Of Brain Tumor Radiation Therapy

Whole brain radiation therapy targets the entire brain treating even microscopic tumors that can t be seen on an mri scan.

Side effects of brain tumor radiation therapy.

This treatment can cause side. In children the younger the child the more sensitive the brain cells are to the side effects of radiation. High doses of radiation therapy to the brain are more likely to cause long term problems. Other side effects depend on the part of the body that is being treated.

So the treatment tends to have fewer or milder side effects than regular radiotherapy to the brain. Cancer that spreads to the brain is usually treated with radiosurgery highly focused radiation with a tool such as the gamma knife followed by less intense radiation to the whole brain. The radiation used to destroy cancer cells can also hurt normal cells in the area that is radiated. Radiation therapy most often uses x rays but protons or other types of energy also can be used.

Radiation therapy treats cancer by using high energy waves to kill tumor cells. Side effects of radiation therapy to the brain may include. Many people who get radiation therapy experience fatigue. A patch of.

It targets the radiation very precisely at the tumour which means that the tumour receives a high dose of radiation and the tissues around it receive a much lower dose. Side effects are caused by the cumulative effect of radiation on the cells. Radiation therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses beams of intense energy to kill cancer cells. The term radiation therapy most often refers to external beam radiation therapy.

Learn more about possible side effects. Sometimes the whole brain is treated with radiation although the doses are often lower. Specific side effects of radiation therapy that affect parts of the body if you re getting radiation therapy to the brain. There are two main types of radiation therapy used at the comprehensive brain tumor center to treat metastatic brain tumors.

People with brain tumors often get stereotactic radiosurgery radiation given in one large dose if the cancer is in only one or a few sites in the brain. Side effects depend on where the radiation is aimed. Radiation therapy has side effects because it not only kills or slows the growth of cancer cells it can also affect nearby healthy cells.