A study on correlates of acute cutaneous manifestations in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy

Abstract

Skin injuries occur in about 95% of patients who receive RT. Anybody site treated with RT is susceptible to cutaneous injury; however, the face, neck, trunk, and extremities are particularly vulnerable. Patients with breast cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, and sarcoma are most often affected because of the higher radiation doses to the skin. RT was formerly used by dermatologists in the treatment of benign conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis. Patients receiving radiation therapy for Head and Neck malignancies attending the outpatient clinic in Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy and Radiotherapy and also inpatients in Radiotherapy wards were included in this study. The most common co-morbidity observed in this study was anemia in 39 patients (78%), followed by diabetes mellitus in 6 patients (12%) followed by hypertension in 3 patients (6%), both hypertension and diabetes mellitus was seen in 1 patient (2%) and hypertension, diabetes mellitus and IHD was seen in 1 patient (2%).