| Summary: | Jingxian Ding,1,2,* Yonghong Guo,3,* Qingge Li,1 Jun Chen,4 Pinghua Hu,4 Qiuming Liu,4 Yali Cao,4 Jiong Wu5,6 1Department of Radiation Oncology, The Third Hospital of Nanchang, Nanchang, China; 2Department of Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China; 4Department of Breast Surgery, The Third Hospital of Nanchang, Nanchang, China; 5Department of Breast Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China; 6Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: To investigate the incidence of skin acute reaction and its influencing factors in postoperative breast cancer radiotherapy patients. Methods: One hundred and seventy three cases of breast cancer patients treated with postoperative radiotherapy were consecutively enrolled from June 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017 in our breast cancer center. Irradiation technology includes conformal intensity-modulated radiotherapy and a conventional two-dimensional one with conventional fraction. Any acute radiation dermatitis was recorded and the influencing factors were analyzed at the end of the radiation treatment. Results: Radiotherapy-induced acute dermatitis in patients with breast-conserving surgery was relatively mild. Among the 173 patients, 33 cases had no obvious changes in the skin (grade 0); 121 cases had grade 1 skin reactions, manifested as local dark erythema and dry peeling; 29 cases had grade 2 skin reactions, characterized by edema, hyperemia, or erosion part; no grade 3 cases of skin reactions were observed. The incidence of grade 0, grade 1, and grade 2 reactions in all patients was 19.1%, 69.9%, and 11.0%, respectively. The severity of skin acute reaction is independent of the tumor sites, molecular subtypes, patients’ age, and irradiation modalities, but it depends on the surgical types, fields treated, and planned total radiation. There is a trend favoring no chemotherapy over chemotherapy, though p-value is 0.074. Conclusion: Skin acute reaction in postoperative radiotherapy breast cancer patients is generally common but mild, and there are quite a few patients who need interruption or cessation of the radiotherapy process. The patients need to be well informed and made aware that any skin reaction will likely be mild, especially for the breast-conserving patients. Keywords: breast neoplasm, radiotherapy, skin acute reaction, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)
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