Advantages and Disadvantages of Radiation Therapy

Radiation Therapy Advantages and Disadvantages

Radiotherapy side effects

Pros:

The advantages of radiation therapy include:

. Death of a large proportion of cancer cells within the entire tumor (there are minimal, if any, cancer cells are left behind in small tumors; thus, radiation alone may be used to cure certain small tumors)

. Death of microscopic disease at the periphery of the tumor that would not be visible to the naked eye (e.g. at the time of surgery)

. Ability to shrink tumors (which may help to relieve mass effect; or it may be done before surgery, to convert certain patients from unresectable to resectable status)

. Relative safety for the patient (radiation can be delivered from outside of the body and focused on the tumor, is painless, and generally does not require anesthesia)

. Synergy with systemic therapy (i.e. the ability to kill more cells together than either therapy could do alone)

. Organ preservation (e.g. not removing a breast, larynx, or part of the gastrointestinal tract, which would have significant negative impact on a patient’s quality of life

. Possible stimulation of an immune response against the tumor

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Cons:

The disadvantages of radiation therapy include:

. Damage to surrounding tissues (e.g. lung, heart), depending on how close the area of interest is located to the tumor

. Inability to kill tumor cells that cannot be seen on imaging scans and are therefore not always included on the 3D models (e.g. in near-by lymph nodes; metastatic disease) of radiation planning

. Inability to kill the all cancer cells in tumors (this is true in particularly large tumors)

. Inability to relieve mass effect (i.e. the pushing of tumor on surrounding normal structures) in certain parts of the body (e.g. brain), thereby requiring surgery

. Poor killing of cancer cells in areas that do not have a good supply of oxygen (e.g. in an area after surgery; in a limb with poor blood supply)

. Increased incidence in wound complication and poor healing (e.g. if surgery is used after radiation; or in parts without good circulation)

. Inconvenience of radiation therapy (e.g. in some cases it must be delivered daily, 5 days per week, for 1-2 months)

. Contraindications to radiation therapy (e.g. prior radiation; certain medical disorders)

Source:

. https://www.cancerquest.org/patients/treatments/radiation-therapy