More information about radiation therapy
To learn more about how radiation is used to treat cancer, see Radiation Therapy.
To learn about some of the side effects listed here and how to manage them, see Managing Cancer-related Side Effects.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays (or particles) to kill cancer cells. It can be helpful in treating some pancreatic cancers.
The type of radiation most often used to treat pancreatic cancer (known as external beam radiation therapy) focuses radiation from a source outside of the body on the cancer.
Getting radiation therapy is much like getting an x-ray, but the radiation is stronger. The procedure itself is painless. Each treatment lasts only a few minutes, although the setup time – getting you into place for treatment – usually takes longer. Most often, radiation treatments are given 5 days a week for several weeks.
Some of the more common side effects of radiation therapy include:
Radiation can also lower blood counts, which can increase the risk of serious infection.
Usually these effects go away within a few weeks after the treatment is complete. Ask your doctor what side effects to expect and how to prevent or relieve them.
To learn more about how radiation is used to treat cancer, see Radiation Therapy.
To learn about some of the side effects listed here and how to manage them, see Managing Cancer-related Side Effects.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Last Revised: February 11, 2019
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