The evaluation of chronic dermatologic complications of breast cancer in patients with breast cancer

Introduction: Despite improvement of radiotherapy techniques in breast cancer, acute and chronic skin reactions are one of the most common side effects of ionizing radiation therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of radiotherapy technique on incidence and severity of skin complications of radiation therapy.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the skin complications of 200 patients with breast cancer under radiotherapy were evaluated based on the RTOG classification table in collaboration with dermatologist. Data were analyzed using SPSS18 software and Fisher s exact test. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: According to RTOG criteria, 58 patients had zero grade, 62 patients with grade 1, 35 patients with grade 2, 30 patients with grade 3, and 15 patients with grade 4 skin reactions. Skin complications were significantly associated with age (P = 0.007)Conclusion: Age of patient is one of the main factors affecting the skin complications of breast cancer radiotherapy, and attention to the beauty of breast is recommended in people with high age.

Keywords:

breast cancer , radiotherapy , chronic skin conditions