What does a patient experience during radiation treatment?
External beam radiation treatments are painless. They are usually given daily, Monday through Friday. Conventional external beam radiation treatments take about 15 minutes a day. 3D conformal treatments last 20-45 minutes. A typical course of radiation treatment given with curative intent lasts six to eight weeks. Palliative radiation, given to relieve specific localized symptoms, such as pain, usually takes two to five weeks. If the patient’s underlying functional condition is good prior to starting radiation, they usually can continue normal activities throughout the treatment program. It is common for the patient to experience some mild fatigue during longer courses of radiation treatment. Other side effects depend on the area of the body being treated. These usually take the form of local irritation or inflammation, reaching a peak in the last few weeks of treatment, and healing completely a few weeks after treatment is completed. Overall, a typical radiation treatment program gene
