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Long-term Side Effects Of Prostate Radiation

Long Term Side Effects Of Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy

Side effects of radiation therapy for prostate cancer video

Most side effects of radiotherapy gradually go away in the weeks or months after treatment. But long term side effects can continue. Or you might notice that some side effects begin months or years later.

Everyone is different and the side effects vary from person to person. You may not have all of the effects mentioned. Tell your doctor or nurse if you have any of these problems. They can help you to find ways of controlling the effects.

Common Thoughts And Feelings

You may feel all sorts of things after you finish treatment. Some men are relieved and feel ready to put the cancer behind them and get back to normal life. But others find it difficult to move on. Adjusting to life after cancer can take time.

For some men, the emotional impact of what they have been through only hits them after they have finished treatment. You might feel angry for example, angry at what you have been through, or about the side effects of treatment. Or you might feel sad or worried about the future.

Follow-up appointments can also cause different emotions. You might find it reassuring to see the doctor or nurse, or you may find it stressful, particularly in the few days before your appointments.

Worries about your cancer coming back

You may worry about your cancer coming back. This is natural, and will often improve with time. There are things you can do to help manage your concerns, such as finding ways to reduce stress. Breathing exercises and listening to music can help you relax and manage stress. Some people find that it helps to share what theyre thinking with somebody else, like a friend. If you are still struggling, you can get help for stress or anxiety on the NHS you can refer yourself directly to a psychological therapies service or ask your GP.

If youre worried about your PSA level or have any new symptoms, speak to your doctor or nurse. If your cancer does come back, you’ll be offered further treatment.

Feeling isolated

Possible Risks And Side Effects Of Brachytherapy

Radiation precautions: If you get permanent brachytherapy, the seeds will give off small amounts of radiation for several weeks or months. Even though the radiation doesnt travel far, your doctor may advise you to stay away from pregnant women and small children during this time. If you plan on traveling, you might want to get a doctors note regarding your treatment, as low levels of radiation can sometimes be picked up by detection systems at airports.

There’s also a small risk that some of the seeds might move . You may be asked to strain your urine for the first week or so to catch any seeds that might come out. You may be asked to take other precautions as well, such as wearing a condom during sex. Be sure to follow any instructions your doctor gives you. There have also been reports of the seeds moving through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, such as the lungs. As far as doctors can tell, this is uncommon and doesnt seem to cause any ill effects.

These precautions arent needed after HDR brachytherapy, because the radiation doesnt stay in the body after treatment.

Bowel problems: Brachytherapy can sometimes irritate the rectum and cause a condition called radiation proctitis. Bowel problems such as rectal pain, burning, and/or diarrhea can occur, but serious long-term problems are uncommon.

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Cancer Of The Bladder Or Lower Bowel

A small number of men develop bladder cancer or cancer of the lower bowel after radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Your doctor will discuss this with you and you will have regular checks after your treatment ends. The checks aim to pick up cancer early when the chance of successful treatment is high.

Side Effects Of Treatment

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Treatments for prostate cancer can cause side effects, which might carry on after your treatment has finished. Some side effects can even start several months or years after treatment finishes.

Side effects will affect each man differently you may not get all the possible side effects from your treatment.

Read more about:

Managing side effects

Side effects can affect your day-to-day life, but there are treatments for them, as well as things you can do to manage them yourself. Its important to speak to your doctor, nurse or GP about them.

If youre having problems with a side effect, you might have a meeting with your doctor or nurse to work out what support you need. They may refer you to someone who can give you more advice and support.

Read more about managing the side effects of prostate cancer treatment.

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Diet Fluids And Bowel Movements

Constipation is a common side effect of pain medications and surgery. You should have received prescriptions for an oral stool softener and a laxative.

You should start drinking fluids as soon as you are comfortable after surgery, and you can resume your normal diet the first day after surgery. But while waiting for normal bowel function to return, you should avoid large meals in favor of several small meals a day. To prevent constipation, we recommend drinking at least eight to 10 glasses of fluids each day and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Avoid carbonated beverages and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and cabbage for approximately two weeks, as they frequently cause gassy discomfort and distention.

Take your stool softener and laxative as prescribed. Normal trajectory for return of bowel function is one to two days to pass gas, three to five days for the first bowel movement.

If you havent had a bowel movement by day three after your surgery, take oral Miralax , an over-the-counter laxative. You can combine Miralax with the prescribed stool softener and laxative. Follow the instructions on the box. Do not use any enemas or take stronger laxatives, such as magnesium citrate. Contact the clinic if you still havent had a bowel movement by day five.

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What Are The Common Side Effects Of Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is called a local treatment. This means that it only affects the specific area of the body that is targeted. For example, radiation therapy to the scalp may cause hair loss. But people who have radiation therapy to other parts of their body do not usually lose the hair on their head.

Common physical side effects of radiation therapy include:

Skin changes. Some people who receive radiation therapy experience dryness, itching, blistering, or peeling on the skin in the area being treated. Skin changes from radiation therapy usually go away a few weeks after treatment ends. If skin damage becomes a serious problem, your doctor may change your treatment plan. Lotion may help with skin changes, but be sure to check with your health care team about which cream they recommend and when to apply it. It is also best to protect affected skin from the sun. Learn more about skin-related treatment side effects.

Fatigue. Fatigue is a term used to describe feeling physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion even if you are getting enough rest and sleep. Many patients experience fatigue. Your level of fatigue may increase if you are receiving more than 1 type of treatment, such as radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy. Learn how to cope with fatigue.

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Tips To Get The Most From Your Follow

Write down any questions or concerns beforehand

It’s easy to forget what you want to say once youre at your appointment.

Bring someone with you

It can be hard to take everything in at your appointments. Some people find it helpful to take someone with them, to listen and discuss things with later. If your appointment is on the phone, you could ask a friend or family member to listen with you.

Make notes

It can help to write things down during or after your appointment. Theres space for this in the appointment diary in our booklet, Follow-up after prostate cancer treatment: What happens next?

Ask to record your appointment

You could do this using your phone or another recording device. You have the right to record your appointment if you want to because its your personal data. But let your doctor or nurse know if you are recording them.

Ask for help

If there is anything bothering you, let your doctor or nurse know.

Ask for copies of any letters

If your appointment is at the hospital, ask for a copy of the letter that is sent to your GP. This will happen automatically at some hospitals. It will help to remind you of what was said at your appointment. If you don’t understand the letter, call your main contact at the hospital or contact our Specialist Nurses.

How To Manage Urinary And Bowel Dysfunction

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Radiation?

Its common to experience urinary dysfunction, bowel dysfunction or both after receiving radiation therapy to the prostate gland. Medication is usually the first treatment recommended for these issues, although there are also injections and surgical procedures that can be used to address these side effects should they persist.

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Disabled Toilets And Emergency Access

As some shops, restaurants and leisure venues reopen after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, its worth remembering that many of these will have customer toilets available.

There are a number of toilet cards you can apply for. The cards discreetly explain that you have a medical condition that means you need to use the toilet urgently. You can order a free toilet card from:

You can also buy a Radar Key from Disability Rights UK. This master key is part of the National Key Scheme . It gives you access to more than 9,000 locked disabled toilets around the country, including in shopping centres, department stores, pubs and cafes.

Changing Places also have a list of accessible toilets and rooms that can be used if you need a more private space. Some of them are free to access and some of them need a Radar Key. You can search for your nearest Changing Places toilet to find out more about it.

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If Youre Getting Radiation Therapy To The Abdomen

If you are getting radiation to your stomach or some part of the abdomen , you may have side effects such as:

Eating or avoiding certain foods can help with some of these problems, so diet planning is an important part of radiation treatment of the stomach or abdomen. Ask your cancer care team about what you can expect, and what medicines you should take to help relieve these problems. Check with your cancer care team about any home remedies or over-the-counter drugs youre thinking about using.

These problems should get better when treatment is over.

Managing nausea

Some people feel queasy for a few hours right after radiation therapy. If you have this problem, try not eating for a couple of hours before and after your treatment. You may handle the treatment better on an empty stomach. If the problem doesnt go away, ask your cancer care team about medicines to help prevent and treat nausea. Be sure to take the medicine exactly as you are told to do.

If you notice nausea before your treatment, try eating a bland snack, like toast or crackers, and try to relax as much as possible. See Nausea and Vomiting to get tips to help an upset stomach and learn more about how to manage these side effects.

Managing diarrhea

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Study Process And Results

Researchers working at 10 hospitals in Spain enrolled 355 men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer that was still confined to the prostate and seminal vesicles . The men were divided into two groups: one group received a short course of hormonal therapy lasting four months, and the other group was treated for a longer duration of 24 months. All the patients were also treated with high-dose radiation.

After 10 years, only men who had been diagnosed initially with high-risk prostate cancer benefited from the long-term treatments. Specifically, 67.2% of these men avoided subsequent increases in prostate-specific antigen that signified worsening cancer. By contrast, 53.7% of men with high-risk cancer who received four months of hormonal therapy avoided similar PSA increases. Importantly, 78.5% of high-risk men who had long-term hormonal therapy were still alive after 10 years, compared to 67% of high-risk men treated with hormonal therapy for four months.

Among men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, the duration of hormonal therapy made little difference. Just four men with intermediate-risk cancer developed worsening cancer that had spread to other sites in the body. Two came from the short-term treatment group, and two from the group that received hormonal therapy for 24 months. And after 10 years, none of the intermediate-risk patients had died from prostate cancer, regardless of how long the hormonal therapy treatments lasted.

New Study Compares Long

Prostate Cancer Treatment Side Effects Comparison
  • By Charlie Schmidt, Editor, Harvard Medical School Annual Report on Prostate Diseases

Prostate cancer therapies are improving over time. But how do the long-term side effects from the various options available today compare? Results from a newly published study are providing some valuable insights.

Investigators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center spent five years tracking the sexual, bowel, urinary, and hormonal status of nearly 2,000 men after they had been treated for prostate cancer, or monitored with active surveillance . Cancers in all the men were still confined to the prostate when diagnosed.

Dr. Karen Hoffman, a radiation oncologist at MD Anderson and the studys first author, said the intent was to provide information that could help men choose from among the various therapeutic options. Surgical and radiation techniques have changed significantly in the last few decades, and at the same time, active surveillance has become an increasingly acceptable strategy, she said. We wanted to understand the adverse events associated with contemporary approaches from the patients perspective.

Roughly two-thirds of the men enrolled in the study had favorable risk cancer, which is nonaggressive and slow-growing. A quarter of these men chose active surveillance, and the rest were treated with one of three different methods:

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Good Prostate Cancer Care

Your MDT will be able to recommend what they feel are the best treatment options, but ultimately the decision is yours.

You should be able to talk with a named specialist nurse about treatment options and possible side effects to help you make a decision.

You should also be told about any clinical trials you may be eligible for.

If you have side effects from treatment, you should be referred to specialist services to help stop or ease these side effects.

Swollen Legs Or Scrotum

You might get swelling in the legs or the sack of skin around the testicles . The swelling is called lymphoedema . It happens when the lymph channels that drain fluid from the legs are damaged by the radiotherapy. The swelling can be uncomfortable.

You can do various things to lower your risk of getting lymphoedema. Early treatment can reduce the swelling and stop it from getting worse.

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What Types Of Radiotherapy Are There

There are different types of external beam radiotherapy used to treat prostate cancer. Ask your doctor, nurse or therapeutic radiographer which type of radiotherapy you are being offered, and for how long.

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy

This is the most common type of external beam radiotherapy in the UK. A computer uses the scans from your radiotherapy planning session to map the location of your prostate and the organs near it to work out the precise radiation dose and create a plan for your radiotherapy treatment.

The radiotherapy machine gives out beams of radiation that match the shape of the area to be treated as closely as possible. This helps to avoid damaging the healthy tissue around it, reducing the risk of side effects. It also allows the treatment area to get the right doses of radiotherapy to get rid of the cancer. Most radiotherapy centres use a type of IMRT technique called VMAT . It is also sometimes called RapidArc.

Stereotactic radiotherapy

Stereotactic radiotherapy, also known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy , is another type of external beam radiotherapy that is offered in some hospitals. SABR gives a much higher dose of radiation to the treatment area at each treatment session compared to IMRT, but a lower dose overall. You will have fewer treatment sessions with this technique. It is a very precise treatment that can be delivered on a standard Linac machine.

Proton beam therapy

Who Might Benefit From Radiation Therapy

What Are Some Radiation Treatment Side Effects for Prostate Cancer Patients?

Your doctor might recommend radiation therapy in several situations.

It can be the first treatment for cancer that hasnât spread outside your prostate gland and is âlow grade.â The grade is a number that tells you how abnormal your cancer cells look under a microscope. The lower the grade, the more normal-looking your cancer cells are â and, in general, the more likely your cancer is slow-growing.

Radiation, along with hormone therapy, might also be part of your first cancer treatment if the disease has spread beyond your prostate into nearby tissues.

If you get surgery for prostate cancer, your doctor might recommend you get radiation therapy afterward, too. It can be helpful if the surgeon couldnât remove all of the cancer or if the cancer comes back in the area of your prostate.

If you have advanced prostate cancer, radiation could help keep the disease under control for as long as possible. It can also help prevent or ease symptoms that the cancer might cause.

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