Management of responses to radiotherapy Radiotherapy effects can have a debilitating impact on an individual's quality of life, and the severity and frequency of adverse effects can affect treatment delivery. The effect of radiation is a complex series of interactions that can occur within a fraction of a second or several years after treatment. While radiotherapy affects all body tissues in the path of the radiation treatment beam, every person will react differently to the radiotherapy due to a range of treatment factors and individual characteristics. Factors influencing responses to ionising radiation include: body site treatment intent (curative/palliative) dose treatment volume machine energy neoadjuvant therapy. The individual's emotional responses to radiotherapy are influenced by: the severity of symptoms and specific side effects of treatment, the need to be accommodated away from home for the duration of the radiation treatment difficulties managing in an unfamiliar environment away from usual support system long distance travel for treatment each day, limited knowledge or resources to manage these problems.. Radiation treatment effects can be divided into acute and late reactions. Acute radiotherapy reactions occur within days to weeks after commencing treatment, whereas late effects occur weeks to years after completing treatment. Healthy tissue responds to radiotherapy with an inflammatory response. The greatest adverse effects occur in tissues that are radiosensitive such as the skin and mucous membranes., The severity of effects is related to the cumulative radiation dose over time., There is a lack of standardised assessment of radiation side-effects and cancer treatment toxicity. Symptoms develop in several stages, further compromising effective assessment and monitoring of toxicities associated with radiotherapy. Learning activity Completed Activity Appraise current assessment tools in your health care facility for their capacity to effectively assess the following effects: radiation skin reactions xerostomia diarrhoea.
Management of responses to radiotherapy Radiotherapy effects can have a debilitating impact on an individual's quality of life, and the severity and frequency of adverse effects can affect treatment delivery. The effect of radiation is a complex series of interactions that can occur within a fraction of a second or several years after treatment. While radiotherapy affects all body tissues in the path of the radiation treatment beam, every person will react differently to the radiotherapy due to a range of treatment factors and individual characteristics. Factors influencing responses to ionising radiation include: body site treatment intent (curative/palliative) dose treatment volume machine energy neoadjuvant therapy. The individual's emotional responses to radiotherapy are influenced by: the severity of symptoms and specific side effects of treatment, the need to be accommodated away from home for the duration of the radiation treatment difficulties managing in an unfamiliar environment away from usual support system long distance travel for treatment each day, limited knowledge or resources to manage these problems.. Radiation treatment effects can be divided into acute and late reactions. Acute radiotherapy reactions occur within days to weeks after commencing treatment, whereas late effects occur weeks to years after completing treatment. Healthy tissue responds to radiotherapy with an inflammatory response. The greatest adverse effects occur in tissues that are radiosensitive such as the skin and mucous membranes., The severity of effects is related to the cumulative radiation dose over time., There is a lack of standardised assessment of radiation side-effects and cancer treatment toxicity. Symptoms develop in several stages, further compromising effective assessment and monitoring of toxicities associated with radiotherapy. Learning activity Completed Activity Appraise current assessment tools in your health care facility for their capacity to effectively assess the following effects: radiation skin reactions xerostomia diarrhoea.
EdCaN-Specialty-Module-Six-Part-Two-Radiotherapy-for-cancer.docx