Radiation Treatment for Cancer Pain

In addition to being possibly fatal, cancer is also quite painful. While much of the treatment will go toward treating the cancer itself, part of your doctor's efforts will go toward ensuring that your experience is as pain-free as possible. While radiation therapy is often used to destroy cancerous tissue, one side effect is a possible reduction in cancer pain.

Cancer

• Cancer is what occurs when your body fails to notice and destroy abnormal cells in a timely fashion. While numerous "cancerous" cells appear throughout your body on a regular basis, your immune system is normally quite adept at locating and destroying these rebel cells before they pose a threat. If, however, these cells manage to slip under the radar, they will eventually develop into a tumor, necessitating medication attention.

Cancer Symptoms

• Cancer symptoms vary widely depending on the original location of the tumor, but fairly common symptoms include night sweats, fever, chills, lack of appetite, or general feelings of malaise. In addition, as cancer progresses it can begin to cause localized pain in affected areas, necessitating medical intervention to improve your quality of life during treatment.

Radiation Treatment

• According to the National Cancer Institute, radiation therapy is the targeted use of ionizing radiation to destroy cancerous tissue. Radiation therapy works by permanently altering the genetic material of the targeted cells, making it physically impossible for them to continue multiplying. In addition to being used to excise cancer itself, radiation therapy also has the potential to ease pain resulting from tumor growth.

Radiation Therapy and Pain

• Where radiation therapy is used to curb pain, the procedure is referred to as palliative radiation therapy. This procedure is most commonly used where the cancer has metastasized--spread throughout the body and into the bones. Halting or slowing the growth and spread of cancer through targeted radiation therapy can help to ease pain, even where there is no real hope of putting the cancer into remission.

Considerations

• According to the Mayo Clinic, radiation therapy is not without its own potential side effects. Radiation therapy can cause burning of the skin to which it is applied, along with potentially causing painful and permanent scarring. It is up to you and your doctor to balance these risks against the potential reduction in pain from cancer, so be cognizant of the potential downsides before requesting radiation therapy to ease cancer pain.