A comprehensive prospective comparison of acute skin toxicity after hypofractionated and normofractionated radiation therapy in breast cancer

Borm KJ, Kleine Vennekate J, Vagedes J, Islam MOA, Duma MN, Loos M, Combs SE, Schiller K, Klusen S, Paepke S, Kiechle MB, Paepke D (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Cancers MDPI

Book Volume: 13

Article Number: 5826

Journal Issue: 22

DOI: 10.3390/cancers13225826

Abstract

The current study aims to determine whether hypofractionated radiotherapy (HF) leads to lower rates of acute radiodermatitis compared to conventional normofractionated radiotherapy (CF). A total of 166 patients with invasive breast cancer or DCIS were included in a prospective cohort study. Evaluation of acute radiodermatitis was obtained before radiotherapy, at the end of the treatment (T1), and 6 weeks after the treatment (T2) using CTCAE (v5.0) scores, the Skindex-16 questionnaire, and ultrasound measurement of the skin. CTCAE and Skindex-16 scores in the CF-group were significantly higher compared to the HF group indicating more pronounced side effects at the end of the treatment (CTCAE: CF-RT 1.0 (IQR: 0.0) vs. HF-RT 0.0 (0.25); p = 0.03; Skindex-16: CF: 20.8 (IQR: 25.8); HF: 8.3 (27.1); p = 0.04). At 6 weeks after the treatment, no significant differences between the two fractionation schemes were observed. Ultrasound based assessment showed that the skin thickness in the treated breast was higher compared to the healthy breast at all time-points. However, no significant difference between HF and CF was seen either at T1 or T2. The current study complements and confirms pre-existing evidence that HF leads to a lower degree of acute radiodermatitis and better patient reported outcome compared to CF at the end of treatment. This should be considered whenever fractionation of adjuvant breast cancer treatment is being dis-cussed.

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität München (TUM) DE Germany (DE) ARCIM Institute Academic Research in Complementary and Integrative Medicine gemeinnützige GmbH DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Borm, K.J., Kleine Vennekate, J., Vagedes, J., Islam, M.O.A., Duma, M.N., Loos, M.,... Paepke, D. (2021). A comprehensive prospective comparison of acute skin toxicity after hypofractionated and normofractionated radiation therapy in breast cancer. Cancers, 13(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13225826

MLA:

Borm, Kai J., et al. "A comprehensive prospective comparison of acute skin toxicity after hypofractionated and normofractionated radiation therapy in breast cancer." Cancers 13.22 (2021).

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