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Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in woman. After an operation to cut out the tumour, most of these woman have to undergo chemotherapy or also called radiation therapy. Unfortunately this process can cause a lot of additional problems. The side effects of radiation therapy for breast cancer are well known and quite common. Even though cancer specialists know this, they cannot prevent it in most cases. Also, a lot of patients get treated unnecessarily but so far there is no scientifically proven alternative. It is obvious that highly effective drugs will also have strong side effects. The aim is to keep them as low as possible. But the effects of radiation have to be especially considered if the treatment is not expected to lead to a cure, but only to a temporary improvement. It would be of no help to the patient if the improvement in disease-related symptoms is smaller than the negative treatment-related side effects. Of course it makes sense to distinguish between side effects that occur frequently and relatively independent of the patient , and those that are rare and happen only under special circumstances. For the regularly expected side effects such as nausea and vomiting, a special preventive treatment is necessary. Since cancer cells have emerged from the body's own cells, a targeted treatment without effecting normal cells is hardly possible, and unfortunately other fast growing cells are affected. Nausea and vomiting are the most common and also one of the most unpleasant side effects of radiation or chemotherapy. It affects not only the acute well-being of the patient and it may also reduce the often poor nutritional status of the affected patient. The radiation therapy attacks rapidly growing tissues, including the mucous membranes in mouth and throat. This can lead to inflammation. While this is not dangerous it can often be very painful. Hair follicles are part of the rapidly growing tissues too and respond to chemotherapy with hair loss. However, the severity of hair loss, depends on the type of treatment and differs from patient to patient. Some drugs can occasionally cause allergic reactions. These drugs are normally known to have these effects and require special attention. During chemotherapy some people will feel very exhausted. These side effects of radiation for breast cancer can make the patient feel dull, tired, weak and make him feel like hardly having enough energy for the necessary daily tasks. Further side effect, which are quite rare, can be nerve damage, heart dysfunction, lung damage and skin changes.
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