Seité S, Bensadoun RJ, Mazer JM, et al.
Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press). Date of publication 2017 Nov 2;volume 9():551-557.
1. Breast Cancer (Dove Med Press). 2017 Nov 2;9:551-557. doi: 10.2147/BCTT.S149752.
eCollection 2017.
Prevention and treatment of acute and chronic radiodermatitis.
Seité S(1), Bensadoun RJ(2), Mazer JM(3).
Author information:
(1)La Roche-Posay Laboratoire Dermatologique, Levallois-Perret.
(2)Centre de Haute Energie (CHE), Nice.
(3)Centre Laser International de la Peau, Paris, France.
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.
DOI: 10.2147/BCTT.S149752
PMCID: PMC5677297
PMID: 29138594
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.
