Hodgkin's Disease - Radiation Treatments

Complications of Radiation

Infections. Infections may be a particular problem with radiation combined with chemotherapy. All patients should be vaccinated against pneumonia and influenza.

Inflammation in the Lungs. With carefully conducted therapy, the risks for lung complications are small. Lung impairment may not even be evident, and the lungs usually recover after2 or3 years.

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Infertility. Radiation therapy to the pelvic area can adversely affect later fertility in women and men. Such negative effects may be worse in women; sperm usually recover within5 years.

Heart Disease and Stroke. Radiation is associated with a future risk of heart disease, which includes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and diseases of the heart valves. Lower doses pose less risk. Recent research suggests that adults who survived childhood Hodgkin?s disease have a four times higher risk of having a stroke than healthy patients.

Fatigue. Fatigue is significant and chronic in many survivors. It is more highly associated with intensive chemotherapy, but it also may be a late response to radiation treatment.

Secondary Cancers. Second cancers (such as breast, stomach, lung, melanoma) may develop later in areas within or at the edge of the radiation area. Thyroid, respiratory tract, and digestive tract secondary cancers may affect patients who were treated as children. The risks are twice as high with treatments that are combined with chemotherapy.

Lung cancer in survivors is highly associated with smoking after treatment, and no survivor should smoke. The risk for breast cancer increases significantly in young women after treatment, particularly with high radiation doses and combined chemotherapy and radiation. The risk can persist for 25 years or more after radiotherapy and lifetime monitoring is essential. Some studies of young women who were treated with chest radiation report risks as high as 40 percent. Experts note, however, that newer types of treatments may reduce this risk.

Thyroid Disorders. Hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone levels) occurs in a number of patients treated with radiation treatments. There is also a 5% chance for hyperthyroidism.