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. 2017 Nov 2:9:551-557.
doi: 10.2147/BCTT.S149752. eCollection 2017.

Prevention and treatment of acute and chronic radiodermatitis

Sophie Seité  1 , René-Jean Bensadoun  2 , Jean-Michel Mazer  3
Affiliations

Prevention and treatment of acute and chronic radiodermatitis

Sophie Seité et al. Breast Cancer (Dove Med Press). .

Abstract

More than half the number of patients with cancer, who are treated with radiotherapy, will have radiodermatitis at some point during their treatment. Radiodermatitis either occurs early on in the treatment period or appears months or up to several years later. Acute radiodermatitis is a burn injury that varies in severity according to both treatment and inherent patient factors. Most acute radiodermatitis reactions resolve after several weeks but some reactions persist and can cause complications. Late-onset radiodermatitis is characterized by telangiectasia that forms on atrophic and fragile skin. These radiodermatitis reactions can have a significant negative impact on concomitant and subsequent therapeutic protocols and most particularly on the patient's quality of life. Today, treatment of radiodermatitis reactions is in its infancy. Although there is insufficient evidence available to form recommendations that would prevent or reduce radiodermatitis, some advances have been made using low level light therapy (LLLT) or vascular lasers to control the symptoms. Some recent preclinical and clinical research suggests that LLLT has biostimulating properties which allow the tissues to regenerate and heal faster, reduce inflammation, and prevent fibrosis. Also, in late-onset radiodermatitis pulsed dye laser treatment has been shown to be beneficial in clearing radiation-induced telangiectasia. In the absence of evidence-based recommendations, the objective of this paper is to review how to prevent or manage the symptoms of radiodermatitis reactions.

Keywords: acute radiodermatitis; chronic radiodermatitis; laser; low level light therapy; management; prevention; pulsed dye; skin care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure SS is an employee of La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Dermatologique, France. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time to onset of radiodermatitis from radiotherapy start. Abbreviations: S, significant; NS, non significant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of results obtained after two sessions of vascular laser and two sessions of fractional non-ablative laser. Note: (A) Before treatment; (B) after treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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