Radiation Therapy

Questions and Answers

1. Can the chemicals injected for a PET scan result in low white blood count readings?

   1 Expert Answer

2. Why does my mother need treatment planning for radiation therapy for lung cancer?

   - Learn how treatment planning before radiation therapy helps doctors more accurately target a cancerous tumor while avoiding healthy tissue.
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3. Is it normal to be burned severely during chemo and radiation?

   - My mother has head and neck cancer. Her radiation thereapy has been enhanced by a new chemo. She is burned severly. Is this normal?
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4. What is the protocol for chemotherapy for colon cancer?

   - What is the protocol for chemotherapy for colon cancer? Eighteen inches of colon has been removed and only one lymph node out of 17 shows cancer cells.
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5. What has caused the pain in my feet after cancer treatment?

   - I have been treated for prostate cancer with lots of external beam radiation. Now (among other areas) I have severe pain on the bottoms of my feet, making it hard to walk, and internal bruising in my feet. What causes this?
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6. How do I help my mother eat better to get stronger?

   - My mom has lung cancer with pneumonia. She was supposed to start chemo this week, but the doctor said she's too weak. They are giving her blood transfusions to help with the low blood cell count. The doctor said that she has gone beyond chemo and he wants to do radiation. He said she has to start eating more to gain enough strength to receive the radiation...
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7. How can I overcome my father's refusal to ask for help with his cancer care?

   - My 64-year-old father has been diagnosed with colon cancer and doesn't want to tell anyone. The doctor recommended surgery and radiation therapy, and Dad's going to need a lot of care, but keeping his illness a secret makes it impossible to get other people involved in helping out. How do I handle this...
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8. What can we do for kidney pain during chemo and radiation?

   - My husband has had pain in his kidneys and it takes an effort to to urinate. What can we do for this? He is having both chemo and radiation.
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9. What is biological treatment planning for radiation therapy?

   - Biological treatment planning is a new area of radiation therapy. Learn why it holds promise for treating cancers whose tumors grow unevenly.
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Topics, Blog Posts, Articles, Checklists, and To-Do Lists

1. 15 Questions to Ask About Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer

   Article - There have been so many advances in radiation therapy in the past few years that choosing a therapeutic approach is not as simple as it used to be. Here are some questions that you or your parent will want to ask her oncologist when deciding on a plan of treatment.