Easing Radiation Side Effects
Reported July 14, 2006
LAFAYETTE, La. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — This year, more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Many of them will have radiation, which can be painful and leave the skin burned. Now there’s a quick, easy and painless way to prevent the side effects of radiation.
Penny Cecil never expected the breast cancer diagnosis she got a year ago. “I had no problems,” she says. “No pain. No lumps. Nothing. Just picked up in a routine mammogram.”
With daughter Baylee at her side, Penny was determined to survive. “I just couldn’t imagine her going through life without her mother,” she says.
Penny had a lumpectomy and radiation. But radiation oncologist Maitland DeLand, M.D., offered something else — a way to prevent the burning and pain that comes with radiation.
“Nobody had thought about preventing it, and I think it is wonderful to prevent something rather than have to take care of it later,” Dr. DeLand, of OncoLogics in Lafayette, Louisiana, tells Ivanhoe.
In a small study, women received LED photo-modulation after each radiation session. The treatment uses low-energy lights at a specific wavelength and frequency to repair skin cells. Dr. DeLand says LED provides a protective effect for the skin. It basically stimulates collagen to regenerate.
Ninety-five percent of women who received the LED treatment had only mild or no burning or pain from radiation. The treatment is painless and takes just 30 seconds.
“If I can make it better for them, that is what motivates me,” Dr. DeLand says.
The LED treatment did make radiation better for Penny. “I felt nothing. No pain,” she says. “My prognosis is great. It has been a year. As of now, cancer-free.” And free to enjoy every minute with her daughter.
LED photomodulation is FDA approved and is commonly used by dermatologists to reduce wrinkles. There are no side effects with this treatment. Dr. DeLand says this is the first time it’s been used for people who are undergoing radiation for cancer.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Nicole Forstall
OncoLogics
917 General Muton Ave
Lafayette LA , 70501
(800) 237-2057
nforstall@oncologics.net
http://www.oncologics.net