Moving radiotherapy treatments to the afternoon can reduce long-term side-effects for some breast cancer patients, research suggests.
Tailoring the timing of radiotherapy sessions could also dramatically boost the quality of life of prostate cancer patients, cutting side-effects such as incontinence.
The findings are part of a continuing exploration of how radiotherapy, which uses high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells, may be modified to lessen the physical toll.
The severity of certain side-effects was linked to whether women undergoing breast cancer treatment were “larks”, who preferred to be active early in the day, or “night owls”.
Patients with variations in two genes — known as PER3 or NOCT — that are associated with being an evening person suffered worse side-effects, including painful breast lumps and scarring, if they…