According to the study, released in the Aug. 1 edition of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology - Biology - Physics, women with early stage breast cancer who receive a newer type of radiation called intensity modulated radiation therapy develop significantly fewer side effects than women who receive traditional radiation therapy.

Standard radiation treatment for breast cancer typically involves directing radiation to the whole breast and using wedges to compensate for so called "hot spots" or areas that receive greater radiation dose due to the shape of the breast. Side effects can include changes in the breast's shape and feel, skin irritations similar to a sunburn, and potential long-term effects such as changes in the color, texture or firmness of the skin and breast swelling.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy is a specialized type of radiation therapy in which the radiation beam can be broken up into many beamlets, and the intensity of each beamlet can be adjusted individually. This allows radiation oncologists to more precisely shape the beam of radiation to better fit the individual contours of the breast while avoiding dose to adjacent organs.

With intensity modulated radiation therapy, also known as IMRT, the radiation dose to the breast is more uniformly distributed throughout the breast essentially minimizing "hot spots."