Radiation side effects

Did you have the lymph node(s) tested, usually done as a fine needle aspiration? If so, and came back positive, then I would suggest getting on something like Ipi/Nivo, or at least to do a treatment plus radiation. I have never had radiation, but have had great success with Ipi/Nivo when my mel came back in my groin area. It is unusual and not typical practice to have radiation only with melanoma.

Hi April – which lymph nodes will be radiated?  My husband had radiation to his cervical lymph nodes and had a "sunburn" on the skin of his neck/upper back as well as some pretty significant tissue damage to the inside of his mouth.  If we had a "do over", we'd go with a lower dose/longer duration of the radiation to hopefully mitigate the mouth damage.  He no longer has facial hair along his jaw.  Other than that, no long lasting side effects.   The radiation was pretty effective in reducing the tumor burden in the lymph nodes that were treated along with an abscopal effect on the nodes on the other side of his neck.

Ann

Hi April,

I've done 2 rounds of radiation to destroy large sub-q tumors, on my back, and two up along the clavicle area.  Two of the three we're totally eliminated, and one shrunk and turned necrotic leaving quite a bit behind in the form of a visible lump, but dead, hard tissue.  Think of radiation as an arrow, that hits its target, but may continue passing through and effecting areas in the line of fire.  I ended up with permanent lung damage, and radiation fibrosis in the shoulder.  Luckily, these have not caused too much trouble for me.  I contemplated treating a splenic tumor with radiation but GI organs are very sensitive to radiation and I opted for surgery instead of risking serious side-effects.  All my treatments were of the high-dose, short duration type.  Bottom line is to seek advice as to what the collateral damage may be when using radiation as a tool.  You should also consider other drug treatments like the ipi/nivo combo which has helped some who failed ipi or pembro as single agents, or also consider trials if the risk of radiation is too great.  Best in the battle.

Gary

I did 28 rounds of Radiation to the side of my face/ ear area and it was brutual for me. the skin was like a really bad sun burn sores in my mouth and on my tongue to where I couldnt eat and spent two days in the hospital receiving fluids. hair doesnt grow in that area by my ear or on my face. my neck is also a little tighter turning to that side now. Radiation didnt appear to work for me as I've had about 5 local reoccurances since radiation. Hope you have better luck with it.

My Oncologist explain us in a similar situation that radiation has proven to give significant results in melanoma. The second opinion is always good so another onc told me immunotherapy is also needed. Though it differ from case to case Good luck, Miaka