Breast cancer patient's knowledge about radiotherapy and physical side effects in Awat radiation oncology center

Background: Radiation therapy remains the mainstay of cancer treatment and is used in about 50% of patients. The accuracy of the dose of radiation is rapidly improving. The aim is to explore the knowledge of breast cancer patients regarding radiotherapy and its physical side effects within the context. Methods: A descriptive (Retrospective) study was conducted with 90 patients who received radiotherapy for breast cancer from December 2022 to April 2023 at Awat Radiation Oncology Center in Erbil City Iraq. Participants were asked about medical data about breast cancer, patients’ knowledge about radiotherapy, and physical side effects after receiving radiotherapy. Results: A total of 90 patients were aged between 31 years to 60 years old (76.7%), the majority of the breast cancer were at stage II (58.9%), most patients received 6-11 cycles of chemotherapy (72.2%), most of the patients (78.9%) had the disease less than a year, The radiation dose received by patients varied, with most patients (76.7%) receiving a dose of 4000, The majority of patients (93.3%) received 11-20 sessions, The continuity of radiation was predominantly continuous (98.9%), most patients (78.9%) receiving 15-10 fractions, Almost all patients undergoing mastectomy (partial 35.65% and complete 60%), and (76.7%) did not use bolus in radiotherapy. (66.67%) of total study participants had fair knowledge, regarding physical side effects (72.2%) having pain in the breast or chest areas was reported, At the end of the study, there was a statistically significant association between level of knowledge with location of living (p-value is 0.025), level of education (p-value is <0.001), and mastectomy (p-value is <0.001), While statistically non-significant association with other variables of the study. Conclusions: Most of the patients had a fair knowledge of radiotherapy, and most of the breast cancer patients experience multiple symptoms associated with pain in the breast or chest area after radiotherapy. The majority of patients wanted to increase their knowledge of radiation and reduce the physical side effects after receiving radiotherapy