Myth: Radiation treatment will cause nausea in most cancer patients. Fact: “This is a common misconception,” says Arnab Chakravarti, MD, chair of the OSUCCC – James Department of Radiation Oncology. “If a patient is being treated for cancer of the stomach or the digestive tract, and these organs are the targets of the radiation, yes, it can lead to nausea in some of those people. However, this represents a small percentage of the overall number of patients. For others, radiation treatment does not cause nausea. They may feel fatigued — and over a long course of treatment, some patients may not eat normally, which can lead to dietary changes — but the radiation itself does not cause nausea. In radiation treatment, photon X-rays damage the DNA of cancer cells, as well as the “normal” cells they also pass through. “The normal cells are able to repair the double-strand DNA damage between the radiation treatments that are spaced out over several weeks,” Chakravarti explains. “The cancer cells are not able to repair themselves, and eventually die off.” While this type of radiation has become extremely effective and more precise over the years, experts at The James are working to bring new technologies to central Ohio patients, including proton radiation and FLASH proton therapy, which is scheduled to begin usage at Ohio State in 2023. “With FLASH, we will be able to deliver the entire course of radiation in less than a second, rather than in smaller doses spread out over six to eight weeks, and without the side effects of traditional radiation,” Chakravarti says. “This will be revolutionary.”