What are the side effects of prostate cancer radiation? In this short video, Steven G. Lester, M.D., F.A.C.R.O., a boardcertified radiation oncologist, at Central Florida Cancer Care Center describes how prostate cancer patients can plan for radiation treatment.

“Today we're discussing will you lose your hair with prostate radiation?” says Dr. Lester. “And the answer is no because we're not aiming at your head. You lose hair with radiation based on where we aim, and I don't think I've ever had a patient complain of losing a little bit of pubic hair.”

“What you want to know is what are the side effects of prostate radiation,” Dr. Lester continues. “And they're really pretty minimal. After a couple of weeks, you'll notice your gland is a little irritated which results in a little more frequent urination and some urgency. Part of the urgency with our process is that we always ask our patients to come in with their bladder full. Therefore, you're drinking more fluids than usual, and you're going to have to empty (your bladder) more often. We usually can manage the side effects with a medication like Flomax if it becomes too symptomatic.”

“You get some bowel irritation from radiation, but now with the newer techniques using an IMRT IGRT, we treat less rectum, so you have less bowel irritation. You will get a little bowel urgency. You don't get diarrhea from prostate radiation because we only treat about a twoinch segment of the front of the rectum. Fatigue is common, but that fatigue is usually pretty minimal. You might need a cat nap after the fourth or fifth week every afternoon. I find the patients who are really tired have better tolerance to treatments because they are not trying to work 40 hours a week.”

“So those are the main side effects one sees during treatment,” Dr. Lester concludes. “We're always available during therapy to see our patients on any day if some side effects should develop, but what you should know is that you can continue with a normal lifestyle during treatment.”

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