Correcting the Record on Radiation for Ovarian Cancer
- A lot of women have misconceptions about radiation for ovarian cancer
- One misconception is that radiation stays in the body and can be passed on to family members at home — it can’t
- Radiation also does not cause the severe side effects that many women think it will; the side effects are usually mild
- Finally, because radiation for ovarian cancer is typical limited to a very specific location, it does not affect the bone marrow to a point where it interferes with chemotherapy
For example, the idea that getting radiation can put your family members at risk is a misconception, says Dr. Kevin Albuquerque, a radiation oncologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. “Patients [may] feel they carry the radiation with them when they go home, and if they have small kids at home who they may come in contact with, they’re afraid that they could transfer the radiation to those family members,” he says. “And that is not true.”
Read More“That’s a valid fear if we are using radiation to treat large areas of the bone marrow,” says Dr. Albuquerque, “[but] if we use focused doses of radiation, we typically spare the bone marrow from the effects of radiation. And so it does not have an impact upon the use of chemotherapy in the future.”
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