Radiation Therapy and Heart/Lung Damage

A major concern and assumption of patients about to begin radiation therapy after their lumpectomy surgery is that they'll develop long-term side effects, such as heart and lung problems.

This certainly was an issue years ago, when there was no way to control the radiation beam. The radiation went all the way through your body to the table you were lying on for treatment. Today, radiation is very controlled. A special mold called a simulation is made of the upper torso area to ensure you are positioned in the exact same place each time, and special blocks are created to protect organs that don't need radiation. A physicist calibrates the radiation dosage. Sometimes special scans are also done to plan the radiation and control the treatment field.

The breast is one of the easier areas of the body to radiate, since it is outside the body cavity. When radiation does need to be given close to the chest wall and armpit area, special precautions are used to protect healthy tissue that doesn't need this treatment. A device call Active Breath Control can also be used to control the inhalation and exhalation of the patient at the time the radiation is administered so that your heart and lungs as distant as they can be from the radiation while the treatment is being administered.

Probably most importantly, the purpose of radiation is to prevent local recurrence of the breast cancer. A study published a few years ago confirmed that among women having lumpectomy with radiation therapy, 40 percent had recurrence of the disease within two years after the surgery was performed. So it's clear that the amount of risk to the heart and lungs is relatively small when compared to the benefit.