“Is radiation worse than chemo?”

Thank you for your very interesting and probing question. Radiation and chemotherapy are effective treatment interventions that are utilized to treat cancer. In some cases, they are prescribed concurrently (together) because they act synergistically (help each other) to kill cancer cells. One approach is not necessarily better or worse than the other. However, because chemotherapy is either taken by mouth (as a pill), or is administered through the veins, it is distributed throughout the body. As such, it is systemic and may cause side effects/symptoms in more organs/areas or the body. Whereas, radiation therapy is directed to the tumor. Thus, the side effects are local and only result from exposure of the organs close to the tumor being treated with radiation. However, both are effective when applied in the clinically appropriate setting. In addition, most side effects can be treated to alleviate symptoms, and most will resolve after treatment.
I hope that this explanation answers your question sufficiently.

Sincerely,

Dr. EB