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Regarding R/T;( external beam), I was told that the radiation continues actively for about twelve to fourteen weeks after the last treatment.
Healthy cells can repair. Cancer cells cannot.
The effect of the radiation rather than the activity lasts longer; up to a couple of years. Then all cells should have settled down.
I am puzzled also. I have (as yet) no experience of radiation, but a friend of mine in his 70's had radiation treatment for PC 7 years ago. He had anus problems from early on which either stabilized or he learnt to live with. But his PSA was consistently zero and he was pronounced "cured".
Now , a few weeks ago, he had a complete urinary blockage. He was admitted to the ER and the doctors were unable to insert a catheter and their first attempt at a supra-pubic insertion failed. He was on morphine before they fixed it. He is now scheduled for surgery (probably a TURP?).
The thing is, the uro told him that what he has is radiation damage to the urethra. So to go back to what puzzles me, how did that happen when for seven years he has had no problem there? Does it mean that the radiation damage was done way back and the scar tissue has just hardened ? Or has the damage continued? (Of course it could all be due to something else entirely, but that is not what he is being told.)
