How many rads are necessary for your treatment?

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited January 2018 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)
How many rads are necessary for your treatment?
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  • Paco
    Paco Member Posts: 208
    edited January 2018

    I know it's very individual but I was wondering how many of you have had radiation treatment and how many sessions did your treatment require? How do they determine how many you need? Does it depend on your cancer staging and grade? Is there a standard of care for each type of cancer? Searching past posts, I see lots of variation from 18 to 35 and everything in between.

    Also, are the sessions always daily? My treatment center is not far away, thank goodness, but I just want to prepare myself.

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  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 1,321
    edited January 2018

    Good morning. Radiation treatments after lumpectomy are always daily. The variation in number of days boils down to two things for whole breast radiation: if you are early stage you may be eligible for the short course of three weeks while most women get six. And if you had a small tumor with clean surgical margins you may be able to skip the subsequent "boosts" to the tumor site.

    For some women with very early stage BC, other options are partial breast treatments (even shorter) or IORT (one day).

    Your RO can explain the options and you may want a second opinion.

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  • FemaleAthlete
    FemaleAthlete Member Posts: 38
    edited January 2018

    Kellyoc519

    Although I am still in the AC part of it - #2 this Thursday - I already know about Rad which is going to be 5 days a week for 6 weeks. My BC was IDC and it was a recurrence. No treatment the first time around(different DO, different state). Current DO wants to make sure all cells are killed, which is why current treatment. So, I do not have the answers to your questions - sorry.

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  • Paco
    Paco Member Posts: 208
    edited January 2018

    Thanks FemaleAthlete and Georgia1 for your input. I'll ask about the shortened course for early stage, but I'll be open to all the options.

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  • Paco
    Paco Member Posts: 208
    edited January 2018

    I read some more on the rads treatments offered by my cancer center and they seem to have multiple options, including Brachytherapy, Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation, and traditional whole breast radiation but they use a shorter 3-week course in lieu of the longer 5/6 weeks. They also offer prone positioning but I think you have to have larger breasts for that so with my not-even-A-cup, that's likely not an option for me. I feel better knowing that it won't necessarily be a long process and hopefully will be relatively painless.

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  • LittleLori
    LittleLori Member Posts: 16
    edited January 2018

    Hi kellyoc519, I have the same diagnosis as you, but in the left breast. Had a lumpectomy Jan. 2nd, and have my initial consult with the RO on Tuesday. I am low grade, less than 1cm, so my surgical oncologist predicted 21 treatments (4 weeks M-F plus one day). I’ll repost on Tuesday and let you know what my RO recommends. Wishing you an uneventful surgery and recovery

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  • Georgia1
    Georgia1 Member Posts: 1,321
    edited January 2018

    Kelly, good to know you have a modern facility with all of those options. The good thing about radiation is that the treatments are short (five minutes or less) and painless. If you do end up eligible for the three-week course I'd expect minimal skin issues as well, and calendula cream is very helpful.

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