Various acute cutaneous manifestations in Head and Neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy

Abstract

Ionizing radiation (IR) is used to treat a variety of malignant conditions and is used to palliate metastatic disease. However, the development of radiation-induced skin changes is a significant adverse effect of radiation therapy (RT). These complications have a profound effect on patient’s quality of life and may also compromise treatment outcomes. There is still paucity of clinical studies on acute manifestations; hence we have considered Head and Neck irradiation for our study group for better understanding of the various cutaneous adverse reactions to radiotherapy. Fifty patients (29 male and 21 female) attending the outpatient clinic in Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy and Radiotherapy and also inpatients in Radiotherapy wards were enrolled in this study. Various cutaneous manifestations in head and neck cancer patients following radiotherapy were recorded using the acute RTOG classification in this study. Majority of the patients showed features suggestive of grade 1 acute radiation dermatitis (48%) followed by grade 2 (36%) and grade 3 (16%) whereas none of the patients had grade 4 changes. Among the mucosal manifestations grade 1 was seen in most of the patients (54%). Majority of the patients had no treatment interruption due to radiation toxicity (38%).