“Can radiation therapy have negative effects on my kidneys?”
I'm undergoing radiation therapy for my cancer, but I heard that it can severely affect my kidneys over time. Is this really true? I'm diagnosed with breast cancer.
4 Answers
You will have radiation to the breast. The kidneys are in the abdomen, and they will not have any radiation.
It will depend on the site of treatment, whether it is near the kidney or not. With new technology (IMRT), the physicist and dosimetrist can shape the beam to minimize radiation to the kidney or any organ we want to avoid.
Dr. Joshua N. Halpern
Radiation Oncologist
Radiation does not affect tissues which are not in the treatment field. Breast radiation does not have any significant effect on the kidneys. Systemic chemo or immunotherapy might, because they spread via bloodstream, so you should ask the medical oncologist about such potential effects.
Radiation directed at the kidneys can certainly have negative effects, but only if the dose exceeds certain well-known thresholds. The kidney dose of radiation expected from patients being treated for breast cancer would be tiny since it would just consist of “scatter” rather than the planned breast doses which would be thousands of times higher. You can ask the radiation oncologist to calculate or even measure the kidney doses using TLD dosimeters if you are concerned.
Roger Macklis
Roger Macklis
