long term protective benefits of radiation

JuniperCat

Hello! Does anyone know how long radiation is supposed to protect against any cancer cells from coming back to the original site? Months? Years? Decades? Do the beneficial effects wear off after a certain time? Thank you!!

sos1125

I was told back during the days when I was weighing lumpectomy vs. mastectomy that with lumpectomy only and no radiation, odds of having a local recurrence are about 30%; with radiation therapy, odds of local recurrence went down to 5-10%. Of course the goal is to annihilate any remaining cancer at the tumor site, I know there are no guarantees.

Not sure I answered your question, but hope that helps. There does seem to be a significant benefit from RT despite the risks. Speaking of risks, since I've been reading up more on long-term effects of radiation therapy, occurs to me to wonder how much radiation therapy increases chances of a second primary cancer in the opposite breast due to unavoidable scatter of the beam. Will ask about that next time I see my R.O.