Abstract
Objective: Severe acute radiation-induced skin reactions occur in a significant proportion of women who receive radiation therapy for breast cancer. We previously showed that Mepilex Lite dressings decreased the severity of erythema. Here we report their effect on the full range of skin reactions in 74 breast cancer patients post-mastectomy. Methods: A total of 80 women were recruited from four hospitals in New Zealand with 74 women contributing a full data set for analysis. The first skin area on the chest wall to develop erythema was randomly divided into two similar halves; one half was treated with Mepilex Lite dressings, the other half with aqueous cream. Skin reactions were assessed using the Radiation-Induced Skin Reaction Assessment Scale. Results: Compared with aqueous cream, Mepilex Lite dressings did not significantly reduce the incidence of moist desquamation but did reduce the overall severity of skin reactions by 41% (p<0.001), the average moist desquamation score by 49% (p=0.043) and the sum of the moist desquamation time for all patches by 28% from 25 to 18 weeks. Most patients preferred the dressings, found them easy to use and very comfortable to wear.
Highlights
Radiation-induced skin reactions occur in 80-90% of breast cancer patients by completion of treatment [1]
We recently showed that Mepilex Lite dressings decreased the severity of radiation-induced erythema compared with aqueous cream in 24 breast cancer patients
As we postulated in our previous trial [13], Mepilex Lite dressings reduce skin reactions by preventing additional mechanical damage and chemical injury of the skin that has been sub-lethally damaged by radiation
Summary
A total of 80 women were recruited from four hospitals in New Zealand with 74 women contributing a full data set for analysis. The first skin area on the chest wall to develop erythema was randomly divided into two similar halves; one half was treated with Mepilex Lite dressings, the other half with aqueous cream. Skin reactions were assessed using the Radiation-Induced Skin Reaction Assessment Scale
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