Radiation therapy—one of the most important tools we have to combat cancer—is surrounded by myths, say the experts at TMC. As World Radiotherapy Awareness Day approaches, experts emphasize the importance of understanding this effective treatment option and its evolving role in oncology.
As Professor Jared Martin, one of the world’s preeminent oncologists, says, on its own, radiation therapy packs a punch. He knows it’s at its most brilliant moments — usually, he thinks, when combined with chemotherapy and surgery. “A lot of what we’ve learned from clinical trials has often been for some quite complex cancers which just one treatment alone is unlikely to get the best outcome,” he explains. As he notes, radiation therapy is an important part of curing cancer, accounting for at least 40 percent of all cancer cures. This underscores its incredible importance on treatment regimens.
Even moreso, radiation therapy is even more widely applicable for prostate cancer, a disease that will impact a large portion of men in their lifetimes. It is important to merge modalities in order to ensure the highest quality of patient care possible. He emphasizes that shared decision-making between patients and healthcare providers is crucial to ensure that treatment aligns with individual priorities, such as quality of life.
With the exception of obvious benefits that using radiotherapy may provide, technology has changed rapidly over the past few decades. “There used to be some places in the body that we couldn’t easily use radiotherapy because of the sensitive structures or organs next to that area,” Professor Sandra Turner shares. “With our new technologies, we can now accurately visualize and treat areas while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues.”
There’s still some fear of radiation therapy for most because of these misconceptions. Misunderstandings around its efficacy, safety, and side effects only add to their fears. Yet according to Professor Turner, who is co-chair of World Radiotherapy Awareness Day, “people are very confused between chemotherapy and radiotherapy.” She goes on to describe how radiation attacks just one area. This concentration results in much less generalized adverse reactions compared to the effects caused by chemotherapy.
Many patients have encountered these fears firsthand. For Melanie Mapleson, a radiotherapy patient for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, this was a story about the battle against false information. “You go on deep dives when you’re diagnosed with something like this. It’s hard to resist the temptation to look at every possible source of information,” she says.
Mapleson’s fears were many. Her fears that she’d get radioactive, putting her small child at risk, for example. What she found was that the majority of patients undergoing radiotherapy are not radioactive. In turn, they are not a danger to their family or friends. To his surprise, his only symptoms were a mild cough for a few days and some throat pain on swallowing. That was incredibly short-lived. She looks back on her personal journey.
Kuldeep Duhan similarly opted for radiation therapy, based on discussions with his oncologists. He completed the process feeling that it was simple and more convenient to his life than surgery would have been. He explains that with the radiotherapy, there was not a single sensation. So far as he was concerned, all was running like clockwork.
World Radiotherapy Awareness Day connects radiotherapy professionals with patients. They document their journeys’ ups and downs, encourage others to seek treatment and raise awareness for better access to treatment. As Professor Turner explained, it’s quite staggering that over 200 million people currently reside in countries where access to any radiotherapy facility is completely non-existent. In Australia, one in five people requiring radiotherapy do not receive it. Proof of availability This is particularly true in rural, more commonly conservative areas, where access tends to be scarcer.
As a result, we know that lives are sometimes lost because people do not receive their radiotherapy in a timely manner,” Professor Turner insists. She reiterates the importance of training healthcare professionals at all levels on radiation therapy’s safety and effectiveness. Having this understanding allows patients to be steered toward the best possible tools for their recovering.
The technological breakthroughs that have transformed cancer care with precision radiotherapy hold similar promise for treating other noncancerous conditions. Professor Martin is still pretty flabbergasted. He notes that low-dose radiotherapy might find a significant use in chronic inflammatory conditions such as plantar fasciitis. It’s a rapidly changing space as future researchers will be trying to collect on this application.
