Long-Term Radiation Effects From Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States, and your prognosis if you have the condition depends largely upon the success of treatments, such as radiation. Unfortunately, radiation treatment for lung cancer does pose a risk for side effects, including some that are long term.

Causes

• Long-term side effects from lung cancer treatment occur due to damage to healthy cells by the highly-powered beams of energy used to destroy harmful cancer cells, explains the American Cancer Society.

Types of Long-Term Side Effects

• The most common long-term side effects of radiation from lung cancer treatment are permanent changes to the skin on your chest and a danger of developing radiation pneumonitis.

Features

• After radiation treatment, you may notice that the skin on your chest is dryer and more sensitive to the sun. To avoid severe sunburns, be sure to use sunscreen on the area of your chest where you received the radiation, suggests the Radiation Medical Group.

Time Frame

• Approximately three to nine months after radiation, you may develop inflammation of your lungs or radiation pneumonitis that causes coughing and shortness of breath. Normally, this condition clears up within two to four weeks, according to the Radiological Society of America.

Risks

• Approximately 5 percent of patients suffer scarring or damage to the lungs that can cause lifelong breathing problems, while 0.1 percent of people experience some type of damage to the spinal cord that leads to decreased mobility or nerve pain, cautions the Radiation Medical Group. There is also a slight risk of developing other types of cancers like lymphoma later in life associated with receiving radiation therapy anywhere on your body, warns the Mayo Clinic.