{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 416: Cancer Treatments for Noncancer Indications: Radiation","description":" \u201cWhen you have benign conditions, we\u2019re actually treating 3 gray, so a significant difference [versus doses of 60 gray for brain cancer]. Typically, when you treat at a high dose, the goal is to destroy tissue, like cancer tissue or cancer cells. But when we give a low dose, the goal is actually to modulate inflammation. And what it does is it slows down those inflammatory cells or those cells that release the chemicals that cause pain and inflammation,\u201d Amanda Meyer, DNP, APRN, CNP, family nurse practitioner in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS\u00ae, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about radiation therapy for noncancer indications. Music Credit: \u201cFireflies and Stardust\u201d by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.25 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by May 22, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center\u2019s Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge about the use of radiation to treat noncancerous conditions. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  ONS Podcast\u2122 episodes: Episode 365: Radiation-Associated Secondary Cancers Episode 301: Radiation Oncology: Side Effect and Care Coordination Best Practices ONS Voice articles: Augmented Reality Simulations Reduce Patient Anxiety by Teaching Them About Radiation Therapy Highly Localized, Precision Radiation Therapies Require Nurses to Drive Care Coordination, Patient Education Quick Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Radiation Care Coordination ONS book: Manual for Radiation Oncology Nursing Practice and Education (fifth edition) ONS courses: ONS Radiation Oncology Conference\u202fRecordings Bundle\u2122 ONS ROCN\u2122 Certification Review\u2122 Radiation Oncology 101: 2024 ONS Bridge\u2122 Session ONS\/ONCC\u00ae Radiation Therapy Certificate\u2122 Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Findings From the 2023 Radiation Oncology Nursing Role Delineation Study to Shape the Future of the Subspecialty The Role of Advanced Practice Providers in Radiation Oncology in 2025 ONS Huddle Cards: Radiation Radiobiology German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO): Guidelines in Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy for Benign Diseases To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode \u201cWe always typically think of it as cancer treatment, but we can use radiation for noncancerous conditions, as well. And radiation was actually used for benign diseases right after the discovery of x-rays. By the 1920s it was used a lot for different types of musculoskeletal, dermatologic issues, and different types of inflammatory conditions. And over time, since the 1920s, we\u2019ve actually really gotten a really good understanding of it.\u201d TS 1:37 \u201cWhen we\u2019re looking at what are good candidate characteristics, we do typically like older patients, so patients over the age of 65. And the rationale behind that is we know that there is a potential for a secondary risk of a skin cancer about 20 to 30 years after getting low-dose radiation, like a basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer. The older the patient is, the less likely they are to have any adverse effects from that.\u201d TS 8:22 \u201cWhen we do the low-dose radiation, they\u2019ve tried other measures that haven\u2019t been successful. However, we don\u2019t want a patient who is so severe that they\u2019re ready for surgery, when they\u2019re bone on bone, because we know that radiation isn\u2019t as effective when they are that severe. So there\u2019s this sweet window where low-dose radiation works best in these patients.\u201d TS 9:39 \u201cWhen we\u2019re treating with a little bit higher dose for like a Dupuytren\u2019s or a Ledderhose, because it\u2019s an anti-proliferative dose, those patients, they do get more skin redness, more dry skin. That\u2019s very temporary, and it resolves within a week or two after treatment. But really, we don\u2019t see any acute side effects. The long-term side effect of the radiation-induced malignancy, again, is a very low\u20140.05% according to some of the European guidelines.\u201d TS 12:34 \u201cI really wish people appreciated how interdisciplinary this is. We need to get referrals from family medicine and from primary care and internal medicine and pain medicine physicians and inflammatory physicians and podiatry and pain specialists. And we really need to use this multidisciplinary approach to get earlier referrals for patients because there is this sweet window of time where low-dose radiation works the best.\u201d TS 18:40 ","author_name":"The ONS Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/onsvoice.libsyn.com\/website","html":"