Radiation therapy for brain cancer found to cause significant damage to the brain

‘Radiation therapy (RT) may be seen as an effective method in treating cancer, but it comes at a high cost. New research shows that RT does not just kill brain tumors, but even the healthy tissue surrounding them, causing significant damage in the brains of patients.
The study was done by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and published in Brain Connectivity. It found that being exposed to radiation can change the structural networks of the brain, ScienceDaily.com reported. This leads to impaired brain function that is all too often observed in patients who have undergone brain RT.
“RT is a mainstay of brain tumor treatment,” said the study’s lead author Naeim Bahrami. “Unfortunately, a side effect can be incidental irradiation of normal brain tissue and radiation-induced injury, which have been linked to impairment of brain function. As patient outcomes improve, a major concern is managing long-term complications, including cognitive decline and disability.”’
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