What are the Side Effects of Radiation Treatment for Prostate Cancer?
Despite the precautions taken to give the radiotherapy as accurately as possible there will always be some side effects associated with radiotherapy to the prostate gland even with “best treatment”. This is partly because to reach the prostate gland from the outside the X-rays have to pass through normal tissues (bladder, bowel, skin) and partly because an area around the prostate gland needs to be treated in case the prostate is in a slightly different position each day (e.g. because the bladder if filled to a different extent) and because it can treat any cancer cells which are trying to invade out of the prostate gland itself.
