Cutaneous adverse effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients: A clinico epidemiological study

Abstract

With chemotherapy being the major modality of treatment, cutaneous and systemic side effects have been a concern for not only the patients, but also the treating clinicians. Because chemotherapy target not only the cancer cells, but also the other rapidly proliferating cells, skin and skin appendages like hair and nails are most commonly affected.: To study the cutaneous adverse events associated with the commonly used cancer chemotherapy drugs.: 120 patients of clinically diagnosed cancer who underwent chemotherapy and satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this observational study. Photographic images of skin, hair and nails were taken before and after every cycle of chemotherapy were collected. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0.: 120 patients including 72 females and 48 males were included in this study with majority (56%) belonging to age group of 55-70 years. The common indications for chemotherapy were carcinoma breast (34%), carcinoma oropharynx (22%) and carcinoma stomach (12%).Hair changes were the most common presentation, reported in 38 patients, skin changes in 35 cases, nail changes in 15 cases. Xerosis (46%) and hyperpigmentation (22%) were the most commonly observed adverse event affecting skin.: Since all cancer chemotherapy agents are not target based, adverse effects of skin and appendages become inevitable. However, early detection of such adverse effects can help them managed effectively and thereby reducing the morbidity and increasing the quality of life of cancer patients.