Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer
Radiotherapy is a treatment used for breast cancer using radiation to kill cancer. Dividing cells are damaged by radiation and because cancer cells are more likely than normal cells to be dividing, radiation usually kills the cancer cells present in the tissue.
Radiation therapy is normally given on an outpatient basis and it only takes a few minutes to administer each treatment session. The treatment itself is painless and is usually given in small doses, called fractions, every day or every other day over a period of a few weeks as the having the full dose in one treatment would be too harmful for normal cells.
Radiotherapy is most often used as a backup treatment after surgery to prevent cancer reoccurring. It can be used after a lumpectomy on the remaining breast tissue or after a mastectomy on the muscles of the chest wall. If the lymph nodes were removed during surgery then radiotherapy may be administered to the armpit area and above the collarbone. Although it is uncommon, radiotherapy may be used before surgery to reduce the size of a large tumour. It can also be used in conjunction with a course of Chemotherapy, either before, during or after the chemotherapy treatment.