How soon do you know if radiotherapy has worked?

Radiation therapy usually does not have an immediate effect, and it could take days, weeks or months to see any change in the cancer. The cancer cells may keep dying for weeks or months after the end of treatment. It may be some time before you know whether the radiation therapy has controlled the cancer.

What is the success rate for radiation therapy?

When it comes to early stages of disease, patients very frequently do well with either brachytherapy or external beam radiation. Success rates of around 90% or higher can be achieved with either approach.

Can you feel radiotherapy working?

While most people feel no pain when each treatment is being delivered, effects of treatment slowly build up over time and may include discomfort, skin changes, or other side effects, depending on where in the body treatment is being delivered.

How do you feel after radiation treatment?

Most people start to feel tired after a few weeks of radiation therapy. This happens because radiation treatments destroy some healthy cells as well as the cancer cells. Fatigue usually gets worse as treatment goes on. Stress from being sick and daily trips for treatment can make fatigue worse.

Do tumors grow back after radiation?

Normal cells close to the cancer can also become damaged by radiation, but most recover and go back to working normally. If radiotherapy doesn’t eliminate all of the cancer cells, they will regrow at some point in the future.

How long does radiation keep working after last treatment?

How long does radiation therapy take to work? Radiation therapy does not eliminate cancer cells right away. It takes days or weeks of treatment before cancer cells start to die. Then, cancer cells keep dying for weeks or months after radiation therapy ends.