What is fibrosis, and does radiation therapy for breast cancer cause it?
‘Fibrosis’ is a medical term meaning scarring. When radiation is delivered, it affects many cells — not only the cancer cells, but normal cells as well. Some cells that are particularly sensitive are the cells that line small blood vessels. When radiation is given, some of these very tiny blood vessels are damaged, and sometimes, destroyed. That makes some parts of tissue receive less blood supply. And some of that tissue, therefore, is not as well-nourished and as viable as it was in its pre-treatment state. In that case, some of those tissues can ‘fibrose’ or scar. And, the breast is susceptible to that. What we experience is a firmness to the tissue. And maybe even sometimes an area that feels almost like a mass or a recurrence.
