“No, You Won’t Be Radioactive” & 4 Other Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Around Radiation Treatment

Some of these might feel embarrassing to ask but you should know others are wondering the same things! The unknown can often cause significant anxiety and stress for patients so we hope this helps.

Radiation Simulation: Preparing for Treatment

SurvivorNet asked a group of Radiation Oncologists what common questions they get from patients and how do they answer them. We hope this list will put you at ease as you learn how radiation may be used in your treatment course.

1. Will getting radiation make me radioactive?

Having radiation treatment as part of your cancer care will not make you radioactive.

This is one of the most commonly asked questions to radiation oncologists. Many patients believe that having radiation treatment may make them radioactive and that they would not be allowed to be near children or family members. Fortunately, this is not the case. Greater than 90% of radiation treatments are delivered from outside of the body, using a machine aimed at the tumor. The radiation travels to kill the cancer and then exists the body. The moment the machine is off, the radiation is gone and you are, absolutely, not radioactive. Some patients will have internal radiation called  brachytherapy. In some cases small radioactive seeds may be permanently placed into a tumor such as for prostate cancer. Although these seeds slowly emit radiation, patients are not considered radioactive. There are very rare cases where doctors may caution you following radiation treatment and this will be made very clear to you by your radiation oncologist. However, almost all patients who have radiation are not radioactive and this should not be a concern when considering having radiation as part of your treatment.

2. Will getting radiation hurt?

Thankfully radiation treatments are non-invasive and do not cause any pain.

Thankfully radiation treatments are non-invasive and do not cause any pain. Having radiation is like getting an x-ray. Powerful beams of energy are used to target and treat tumors. While radiation, as with all cancer therapies, does have side effects it does not cause any pain while it is being delivered.

Related: When Cancer Spreads to Bones There are Treatment Options Can Radiation Help?

3. Will getting radiation cause me to lose my hair?

Radiation and chemotherapy are often mentioned together but these treatments are very different. Certain chemotherapies may cause hair loss when they are given for cancer treatment. Radiation will only cause hair loss if hair is in the path of the tumor. So for most patients radiation will cause no hair loss. For example, if you have a brain tumor and radiation is being used to treat this, you may have hair loss from your head. However, if you have a tumor in the pelvis and radiation is being used you will not lose any hair from your head. In this case, you may lose pubic hair but none of the other hair on your body will be affected. If you do have lose hair it will regrow several weeks or months after treatment. Fortunately, for most patients hair loss is not a concern when having radiation therapy.

4. Does radiation go everywhere in my body?

Unlike chemotherapy, radiation is a local treatment and does not travel everywhere throughout the body. Radiation only goes to where the tumor is located, and this is determined by the radiation oncologist. Although radiation does cause side effects, since it only goes to one area of the body, the side effects are also limited to that area. For instance, chemotherapy may cause nausea and vomiting in patients. However, if radiation is not targeting the stomach you should not have these symptoms. Another example, if a patient is having radiation for lung cancer they should not have any symptoms outside of the chest, as the radiation only goes where it is aimed. This is one of the fundamental differences between chemotherapy and radiation treatment, chemotherapy travels everywhere in the body while radiation is only focused in a single area.

5. How long do treatments last?

Typically, radiation is given in very small doses over many days. Although newer treatments such as stereotactic body radiotherapy have shortened this for some, most patients will have several weeks of treatment. However, each day, patients only receive radiation for a matter of seconds. While patients may be in the treatment room for longer, the radiation beam is generally only on for a very short time usually in the realm of several seconds.

Related: Radiation Therapy for Cancer in a Single Dose? That's the Power of SBRT

So, though it may seem like many days and multiple treatments, each day only a small fraction of the radiation dose is given.

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