Should I do radiation

I have had my second cancer surgery with the last being Endometrial Cancer. They believe they have gotten all of it. I have completed my third chemo. treatment and they are saying I should have 25 sessions of radiation. Since the radiation would be very close to my colon and bladder I'm affraid it will damage these two areas and cause more problems.  What should I do? Mary

Mary,

You are my first post on this board.  I have just been diagnosed with endometrial cancer and I've been reading a lot about it.  I don't profess to be an expert, but....

You should do the radiation. 

From what I've read, it is probably more effective than chemotherapy at killing these cancer cells.  My radiologist just got done telling me that they can direct the beam very well and they can spare your intestines if they don't need to treat them.  Also, from what he said, there are apparently many drugs they can use to counteract side effects and he told me to not be shy about asking for help with side effects as it is their goal to take very good care of me.  Perhaps you could get another opinion if your radiologist has not quelled your fears?     

Hi Mary,

I hope everything goes well for you!

I had pelvic radiation in 2005 and I have both bladder and bowel side effects.  The bowel  problems started with the radiation and continues to this day.  The damage to the bowel was written up in the report on my 2007 colonoscopy.  The bladder just surfaced in 2008.  It consisted of blood in my urine, which was minimalized in an out-patient surgery.  I don't always notice the blood, but it was still there in my F/U with the urologist.  I find that I am most likely to see it if I'm out and about keeping bathroom visits infrequent. The urologist also said the surgery may have to be repeated.

As I said I had radiation in 2005.  There may have been some improvement in avoiding damage to the bladder and bowel since then.

 

 

 

On 2/20/2009 aandmlvp wrote:

I have had my second cancer surgery with the last being Endometrial Cancer. They believe they have gotten all of it. I have completed my third chemo. treatment and they are saying I should have 25 sessions of radiation. Since the radiation would be very close to my colon and bladder I'm affraid it will damage these two areas and cause more problems.  What should I do? Mary

Hi,

 I would recommend you have the radiation. I had it (about the same number of sessions) after surgery for Stage IIB endometrial cancer. Also, a friend who is a doctor developed the same cancer a couple of years after I did, and even though her cancer was only Stage 1, she asked for (and got) radiation - I think it is really the most effective treatment (apart from surgery, of course). I haven't had any problems with my bladder. I did develop radiation colitis (bleeding), but this has been stopped with minor surgery (cauterization, basically). The most annoying long-term effect is the need to use a dilator, but that's just a minor annoyance.

 I'd say go with what your docs recommend -- best wishes for health and happiness...

 Laurie

 

Laurie, and others who may be interested:

Stage II endometrial cancer patients probably should have radiation.  Radiation is effective in preventing local recurrence.  Chemotherapy can prevent distant recurrence. 

Among short term effects of radiation are colitis, bladder irritation and vaginal dryness and contraction.  But radiation can also cause serious long term effects.  I also had Stage IIB endometrial cancer, and I had radiation treatment after surgery 11 years ago.  Five years after the radiation, I began to limp very slightly.  It continued to get worse, and 8 years after the radiation, I was diagnosed with late effect, radiation-induced lumbosacral plexopathy, which is nerve damage in my back.  It is considered rare, is slowly progressive and has no effective treatment. Most studies of this problem only follow patients for about five years after the radiation, not long enough, IMHO, for all the cases to appear.  Studies done on breast cancer patients (who sometimes have problems with weakness in their hands and arms) showed new cases appearing 30+ years after radiation. 

I would certainly NOT have radiation if I had a stage I endometrial cancer because the benefits are small but the risks of side effects are just as great. 

Hi

Perhaps you have made a decision by now but if not, I would strongly urge you to be aggressive with treament and have radiation.  I had surgery for endo cancer in 2000 followed with radiation for about three months.  In 2005, I had a recurrence and it has matastsized in my lungs.  Since then I've been on chemo twice and am now on Arimidex daily.  I can't tell you how much I regret that my doctor didn't recommend both chemo and radiation. 

 A friend had chemo after radiation though the same doctor said it was unnecessary but she and her family wanted to be aggressive. She has not had a recurrence and I think the treatment decision she made is why,

Yes, there are side effects from radiation to the abdomen.  Mine didn't surface until about two years later.  I do resent that the doctors played down the likelihood of side effects only because I was shocked when it started happening.  For me, it's diarrhea that is manageable probably 90% of the time.  I would still have made the decision to have radiation even knowing what I do now which is dealing with the side effects and fighting the recurrence these past 4 years.  God bless you as you go forward.