Saturday, June 27, 2009

Skin Cancer Radiation Therapy

By Kathy Forcey

Sometimes skin cancer is resilient, and will either keep returning, or resist treatment. When this occurs, an alternative is to use x-ray radiation to eliminate the cancer calls. This treatment requires multiple visits over a period of time. The X-ray treatment is repeated until the cancer is completely destroyed.

Radiation is not a preferred treatment for skin cancer. In some cases, however, no other treatment will be effective. There are many cases in which the patient's condition and other factors will require radiation treatment to be used against skin cancers. There are several reasons why a patient afflicted with skin cancer may seek radiation treatment. One possibility is that the patient has inherent medical or health risks that would prevent them from other types of treatment.

The area where the skin cancer is either too large or in an area that is not conducive to treatment with surgery are other reasons that radiation treatment might be sought. It is always possible that a skin cancer has been treated but is reoccurring frequently.

This type of treatment has been shown to have some success for difficult skin cancers. In patients who were experiencing a fifty percent reoccurrence of their skin cancer the radiation treatment dropped that number to twenty five percent.

There are some risks to treating skin cancer with radiation, however. You may develop new skin cancers in the area that surround the affected area. If the skin cancer reoccurs after the treatment it may be that much harder to treat because of the radiation. And you might experience damage to your healthy skin in the same area.

There are also side effects to consider when you are thinking about skin cancer radiation treatment. You will experience fatigue, nausea, hair loss and redness in the area. Generally the side effects will disappear when the treatment is stopped.

If you are considering this kind of skin cancer treatment, your doctor should have already discussed the potential costs and side effects that it may cause. You need to be sure that this treatment is worth the risks that you are assuming. Radiation treatment may not be your best option for fighting skin cancer, and your doctor should be asked if any other means of treatment will be effective.

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