how many rads should we have?

fire

how many rads should we have?

fire

Hello,

 I finished my rads feb/2007, but still confused about # of rads

I had.

Onc said I will have 35 rads, but I had only 28, and no bosts.

I keep reading everybody has more then I had.

 Did anybody had the same # like I had?

Also, did you have it the same time every day?

I read it has to be 24 hours period between treatments to kill cells.

I had it every day in different time.

Please share your experience.

The rads for me was good - no pain and  fast, (several minuts?)

Do not afraid rads, you feel nothing, it is like x-ray.

Just when you go for simulations, take some pain killer because it is long, and you have to keep your arms up over your head .( you lying on the table)

Also good to do a training at home, lay down on the back, put your

both arms behind your head.

I didn't know it will be both arms, and I was training only one arm.

The best wishes to all.

LUVmy2girlZ

fire ~

This solely depends on you Rad.Onc. and your dx as well as lumpectomy/mastectomy.

So far I had 35 (25 rads 10 boosts) same time everyday but I read that you can have them back to back but w/ so many hours or so in between.

It seemed to me I had the MOST...and wondered that very question on a mastectomy no less!  When I joined the Feb.Rad Team it seemed 28 was the "norm" some w/ boost some not.

Did your Rad. Onc. say you would have boosts and did you question him why you didn't ...Rads continue to work so even if there is laps time you still can receive them...I would go over why vs why not with your Oncologist just to ease your mind.

Much LUV

fire

LUV,

I asked rads doc, and he said that  for me it was enough.

I didn't asked about boosts, I even didn't know word "boost" that time:)

Thank you, and I will follow your advise and ask doctor about it.

Dimplesmur

What are the boosts, Im on my 2nd week, have to do 7 weeks.

AccidentalTourist

I live in the UK and am about to start radiotherapy on Thursday, 21 August (lumpectomy was on 23 June) for three weeks of the whole right breast and one week of cancer site boosts.  Not looking forward to it as I have shooting pains after the 'test' session a week ago and my scar which appeared to have healed has turned red and hard.

easyquilts

I will be having 28 rads...no boosts...Dr.M. told me that I would have no boosts because my cancer was non-invasive....So...Monday I will have my LAST treatment!

I found this out Friday.....I thought I would have 33 treatmetns, including five boosts....It was a nice surprise!

 Sandy

pinoideae

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/bc_myths/

pinoideae

LOS ANGELES OCT 31, 2007 (Reuters Health) - After breast conserving therapy for stage I and II breast cancer, an additional boost of radiation can reduce the risk of recurrence, while surgical margin status has relatively little impact.

Those findings come from a large European study reported by Dr. Harry Bartelink of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

The study involved more than 5,000 women who underwent lumpectomy and whole breast irradiation with 50 Gy radiation.

There were 251 women with microscopically incomplete excisions who had an additional 10 Gy or 26 Gy booster dose of radiation or no additional radiation. The other patients with microscopically complete excision received a 16-Gy boost or no boost.

Local failure occurred in 278 women who did not receive an additional dose of radiation and in 156 women who did. "At 10 years, the cumulative incidence of local recurrence was 10.2% for the no-boost group compared with 6.2% for the boost group," Dr. Bartelink told Reuters Health.

"The hazard ratio of local recurrence was 0.59 in favor of the boost, with no statistically significant interaction per age group," Dr. Bartelink said.

"The local failure rate for patients with negative margins at 10 years was 9.4% compared with 11.1% for patients with positive margins," according to the presentation abstract.

"Margin involvement is not that important," Dr. Bartelink said in an interview with Reuters Health. "We found exactly the same numbers of recurrences with locally positive margins as in those with tumor-free margins at 10 years."

As for the idea of a second surgery, to excise focal involvement at the margins, that "causes twice as much scarring, wi

Bartelink and his colleagues concluded "the reduction in the incidence of local recurrences associated with the additional dose far outweighs the slight increase in poorer cosmetic outcome, especially for women younger than 50 years of age." But, many doctors in the US question relying on extra radiation to prevent recurrence. Boost radiation is not standard practice in the US.

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pinoideae

I had 25 rads treatments and 5 boost treatments. My tumor was invasive.

fire

i had invasive tumor.

koshka1

hellooo,,,,

i am in Canada....

i did a shorter treatment but stronger dose...16 rads,,and then 4 boosts to the tumor bad.

i got tanned,,my nipple turned grey at one point and peeled off (although now it looks normal), i also got tired the first day of rads...it exhausted me.

the only other side effect,,2 weeks after rads ended i had a "goosebump" like rash all over the radiated breast that itched and burned soooooooo bad.  rads onc gave me cream that helped immediately.

after that ...no other issues.....

it took me about a month or soooo to get the energy back....

hugs....

ps123

My bc was invasive and I had 28 rads, no boosts.  I asked my rad onc at the time why no boosts and it had something to do with the fact I had had a mastectomy.

Pat

fire

Thank you, everybody!

9999Carmen

I had 38 rads. my tumor was invasive.

Lories

I am having 16 rads, similar to Koshka - my rads onc. is basing it on the Canadian and British studies.  thanks for the info. 

TorchSong

Well, now I'm wondering... My rad onc says 7 weeks of five times/week which is 45 rads to me (last five are boosts). Does that seem excessive given my dx? I know I'm TN and Stage 3...

This was the first consultation, and by a doc from another cancer center, so I will be seeing my supervising onc before it starts. Think I'll be asking him about this!

Lories

TorchSong - Here is an article on the Canadian/British study. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/health/research/23canc.html

My rads oncologist did stress that if I did not have wide clear margins I would not be eligible.  But it looks like my 8mm margins were good, he gave me the go the other day.  Certainly sounds like a good question to bring up.  Lori

Deedee79

I had 28 rads and 8 boost. I have 4 of the 8 boost to go. I was ok until recently  and now my breast that I'm having the rads on is hurting and is burned. The nurse said she thought I would make it through the next 4 without my skin breaking down. I'm keeping lotion on it and my onc said to use Bag Balm on it after the treatment is over. The best to all. Hugs, Dee

KerryMac

OK, I need to ask a silly question...what are "boosts"?

Am in the midst of Chemo right now, but have met with Rad Onc and will have radiation in June - he said I would need 25 rads, no mention of boosts. Should I bring it up with him??

TorchSong

Lories--thanks for the interesting article! Unfortunately, I am node positive...so that won't work for me, which the rad onc did mention, now that I think about it.

Bummer.

Tamara67646

I had 33 total rads tx - 27 tx of rads on whole breast on one machine and then 6 "boosts". 

 Kerry - "boosts" are additional rads to just the scar and area where the tumor was removed (I had a lumpectomy) - for me - it was also done on a different machine and the type of radiation was different but I don't recall the name - the regular rads go deeper and the boosts were explained as being more "superficial". 

Tamara

1234Manu5

I had 28 rad and 6 boosts.

Tumor was invasive.

KerryMac

So, would I need boosts if I had a mastectomy???

desdemona222b

The boosts are to the tumor bed, so I don't think you'd have those if you've had a mastectomy.

I had DCIS with 37 total treatments, 5 of them boosts.  The docs told me that part of what determines how many treatments you take is your breast size.  I was told 37 treatments (which I presume had less radiation than if I had done fewer treatments) would yield the best cosmetic results. 

plainjane64

I think the number of sessions you receive is dependent on the dosing.  You get a certain dosage of radiation then they divide that into however many days you get.  Dosing is in a unit of measure...either centigray or another unit.  I think about 33 sessions is pretty standard. Tommorrow is my last session. I had a horrible time- very swollen and heavy after the first 2 weeks, progressed to folliculitis in the cleavage, continued swelling and itching like crazy, then blisters, breakdown, misery.  I was allowed a week off after 20 sessions because I was so discouraged and miserable I was almost ready to quit.  The one week break did me a world of good.  I resumed and she reconfigured my remaining sessions to complete another 4 or 5 regular whole breast treatments then I think about 7 boost treatments of higher intensity...Ultimately I rec'd the standard amt of radiation units but a different number and w/ more concentration into tumor bed(via higher dose boosts). I think there are studies and some people who receive less sessions/ treatments but the same dose of radiation.  There is a therapeutic range/dose and w/ a high and low end. 

Kornelia80

I will have 30 rads, no boosts.

Sirena_Gorda

Has anyone ever heard of having rads only on Monday and Tuesday from August until March? 

Someone told me that was her schedule, and I thought it very strange since I was told when I had rads that you must have the TX 5 days/week in order for them to be effective. 

Is that a new protocol?