Dermatol Clin 26 (2008) 161172

Radiation Therapy Toxicity to the Skin

T.J. FitzGerald, MD*, Maryann Bishop Jodoin, BS,
Gayle Tillman, MD, Jesse Aronowitz, MD, Richard Pieters, MD,
Susan Balducci, RN, NP, Joshua Meyer, MD,
M. Giulia Cicchetti, MD, Sidney Kadish, MD,
Shelagh McCauley, MD, Joanna Sawicka, MD,
Marcia Urie, PhD, Y.C. Lo, PhD, Charles Mayo, PhD,
Kenneth Ulin, PhD, Linda Ding, PhD, Maureen Britton, BSN,
Jiayi Huang, MD, Edward Arous, BS
Department of Radiation Oncology and The Cancer Center, The University of Massachusetts Medical School,
UMass Memorial Health Care, 55 Lake Avenue N., Worcester, MA 01655, USA

Radiation therapy is one of the core treatment

strategies for the care of cancer patients. More
than 60% of all cancer patients in North America
are treated with radiation therapy as part of their
treatment plan. Accordingly, understanding the
short-term and long-term eects of radiation
therapy to the skin is of importance to health
care providers involved with these patients. With
each passing year, there are more patients surviving their primary malignancy; therefore normal
tissue toxicity is becoming of increasing relevance
to those who care for these patients, from both an
oncology and primary care perspective. Although
modern technologies in radiation therapy may
decrease dermal toxicity, it must be recognized
that many patients were treated with less advanced treatment techniques and accelerated
treatment delivery strategies. Understanding the
evolution of treatment technology and the application of radiation therapy will aid health care
providers in the evaluation and care of the cancer
survivor.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected]
(T.J. FitzGerald).

Histology of the skin

The skin is composed of the epidermis and
dermis. The epidermis is composed of stratied
squamous epithelium, which in most regions of
the body is no more than 2 mm in thickness, with
many areas (eyelid and others) less thick. The cell
population in the basal layer of the epidermis
residing on the basement membrane undergoes
division to replace cells at the surface. The cycle is
thought to take 3 weeks, and is inuenced by
many factors, including various disease processes.
The dermis resides beneath the epidermis, and can
vary in thickness between a few millimeters to
a centimeter. The portion of the dermis that
contacts the epidermis is referred to as the
papillary layer. This contains tissues such as
lymphatic conduits, nerves, hair follicles, glandular tissue, and blood vessels embedded in a connective tissue stroma. The deeper portions of the
dermis, which contains stroma, composed of
elastic bers and collagen, is referred to as the
reticular layer. These structures sit upon subcutaneous tissue and other supportive cell structures, including adipose, nerves, and larger
lymphatic and blood vessels. The vascular and
nerve root connections in the dermis provide
nutrients and support for the self-renewal process
of the basal layer of the epidermis [16].

0733-8635/08/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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FITZGERALD

History and evolution of radiation therapy

in the care of the cancer patient
The discovery of radiography by Roentgen
and radium by the Curies established the basis for
radiation therapy. Within months of the discovery, radiographs were investigated by physicians,
scientists, and curiosity seekers. Primitive radiograph tubes were quite bulky, and early investigators tested their function with uoroscopy of
their own hands. These investigators were the rst
to identify both erythema and epilation, thus
suggesting their use for therapy. Multiple disease
processes, both inammatory and noninammatory in origin, were treated with radiographs;
however, continued unprotected use led to extraordinary consequences, including ulceration
and gangrene of skin. Many of the rst generation
of radiographers required amputation, and many
succumbed to squamous cell cancers, leukemia,
and aplastic anemia (Marie Curie and her daughter, Irene) [7]. Many uses of radiation therapy
were identied and published by 1910, including
radium brachytherapy and orthovoltage teletherapy. Before the establishment of strategies to measure absorbed treatment dose, one of the rst
measures of radiation therapy was the use of erythema units, specically the measure of how red
the skin became from daily treatment. The single-fraction radiograph dose that induces erythema is approximately 500 centi-Gray units
(cGy) [1,2,5,6,8].
For most patients the skin is an unintentional
target of treatment. Improvements in teletherapy
technique have improved acute and late eects to
dermal surfaces. Until the introduction of megavoltage equipment (cobalt and linear accelerators)
in the 1950s and 60s, orthovoltage energies (in the
kilovoltage range), were used for radiotherapy.
They are highly eective in treating tumors on the
skin surface, but inadequate for treatment of
tumors at depth (in the central aspect of the chest,
abdomen, and pelvis). To deliver a tumoricidal
radiation therapy dose to the target in the central
aspect of the chest using orthvoltage radiography
would necessitate delivery of two to three times
the dose to the skin surfaces. Dermal surfaces
received extremely high daily fractional and total
treatment dose, resulting in severe acute and
chronic dermal sequelae, including desquamation
and chronic scarring. Maneuvers such as ltration (elimination of the least penetrating
components of the radiographic beam) and
crossring (the use of multiple intersecting

et al

beams) partially ameliorated the problem without

improving depth dose. Megavoltage therapy offered the rst true skin sparing. By then,
scientists could measure the dose absorbed by,
rather than delivered to, tissue. Total absorbed
dose is the sum of the doses transmitted by the
primary beam and secondary scatter events. Biological eects in both clinical practice and
laboratory research correlate with absorbed radiation dose, which is expressed as energy per unit
mass of tissue. This correlation is consistent for
gamma rays, fast neutrons, and electrons. The
unit dose was originally referred to as a rad, which
was dened as the energy absorption corresponding to 100 ergs/g. This unit has been replaced by
the gray (Gy). One Gray is the equivalent of 100
rads. Because of limited backscatter, the dose to
skin surface was considerably decreased for
gamma rays generated by megavoltage equipment. This has further improved with the use of
multield therapy planning and higher therapy
energies, thus further serving to decrease dose to
skin surface [6]. Three-dimensional planning permits accurate delineation of skin contours and
identies tangential skin surfaces and skin folds,
which would be vulnerable to radiation dose. Intensity modulation treatment techniques permit
subsegment evaluation of dermal surfaces, and
dynamic leaf motion serves to further decrease
skin dose. There remains, however, a population
of patients who were successfully treated with radiation therapy using older techniques and equipment, and who will bear the sequelae of treatment
for a lifetime. It is therefore useful to document
the methodology of treatment when evaluating
its eects.

Radiation biology
There are many factors that inuence the
eects of radiation treatment on normal tissue
function. Normal tissues vary greatly in their
intrinsic sensitivity to radiation therapy. There
are certain tissues that can tolerate extremely high
doses of radiation therapy (bile duct), and others
that can tolerate relatively little radiation therapy
(bone marrow). The skin is a complex organ
composed of tissues with a relatively rapid selfrenewal potential, as well as support tissues with
limited self-renewal potential. The dermis is composed of cells with intermediate radiation sensitivity. Therefore tissues within the skin are
composed of cells that demonstrate both early

RADIATION THERAPY TOXICITY TO THE SKIN

and late response to radiation therapy. The

dermal appendages, including hair and nails,
likewise have varied sensitivity and self-renewal
potential. The epithelial tissues of the skin are
sensitive to radiation therapy with an alpha/beta
ratio of 10, and hence sensitive to the eects of
both daily dose fraction size and total dose. Other
biological eects also inuence sensitivity to
treatment, however. The cell cycle remains an
important issue for radiation sensitivity. Cells
with rapid cell cycle kinetics, such as the epidermis, are more sensitive to treatment and demonstrate more acute eects during the course of
treatment. This is because of the fact that both
tumor and normal tissues are sensitive to radiation therapy in the G2M phase of the cell cycle,
and are likely more resistant to therapy in DNA
synthesis. The kinetics of healing with support of
repopulation of stem cells from other skin surfaces outside of the radiation therapy treatment
eld results in relatively rapid healing of damage
induced by radiography, largely generated
through traditional inammatory processes. Certain dermal structures such as glandular cells,
basement membrane, elastic cells, and other
support bers have a more protracted response
to radiography; therefore restoration of dermal
lubrication, hair regrowth, and re-establishment
of the complement of support bers occurs at
a more protracted pace [16,8].
Fractionation (daily treatment dose) is the
most important aspect in determining both acute
and late eects of radiation treatment. The
earliest attempts at delivering radiation treatment
against tumor targets consisted of long, protracted, single radiograph exposure to tumor
targets. Although tumor response was documented, the eect upon normal tissues, including
skin, was not acceptable with severe nonhealing
injuries. Investigators at that time point began to
evaluate the role of multiple treatment sessions
over a more protracted time period. Enthusiasm
was rapidly acquired for such an approach, because there was clear impact against tumor, with
amelioration of sequelae identied with single-exposure treatments. From a biological perspective,
fractionation provided signicant advantage for
sparing normal tissue. Repair, repopulation, regeneration, and reoxygenation are commonly referred to as the four Rs of radiation biology,
and each plays a signicant role in support of normal tissue response to radiation treatment, as well
as a traditional role in dening tumor response to
radiation therapy [6].

163

Normal tissues repair radiation damage with

varied capability. Certain cells in the body have
limited to no capacity to repair radiation injury.
These include bone marrow and sperm. Other cell
systems appear to have more robust capacity to
repair sublethal events. Bone and muscle are
examples of these systems. Often the repair processes are clinically undetected because the damage to normal tissues is sublethal in nature;
however, if the repair process were overwhelmed
by single exposure treatment, the damage to
normal tissue would be much more obvious. The
balance in treatment fractionation is to deliver
a tumoricidal dose of radiation, but not to
consume the ability of the cell to repair sublethal
events. Potentially lethal damage is a term used to
describe the possible inuence of radiation therapy eects in the recovery phase of management.
This relates to alteration in post-therapy conditions, which may serve to inuence normal tissue
outcome. For example, if dermal tissues become
secondarily infected at closure of radiation treatment, the systems ability to repair may be
inuenced by this event. During a protracted
treatment course, repair kinetics often become
stressed. The response to this phenomenon is to
generate an inammatory response to bring in
stem cells from other dermal areas outside of the
radiation therapy treatment eld to aid in recovery. This is referred to as repopulation. This is
an important aspect of self-renewal and healing,
because we can draw upon resources from other
body areas to heal. Treatments such as total skin
radiation therapy for mycosis fungoides and total
body radiation therapy for bone marrow transplant raise interesting questions for the concept of
repopulation of skin, because treatment is directed
to large volumes of the stem cell population. In
both of these systems, fractionation of treatment
is crucial in preserving normal tissue integrity.
Kinetics of stem cell division are also increased
through this process until healing is complete.
This is referred to as regeneration, because cells
are accelerated through the cell cycle to aid in
repair processes. Tissues also reoxygenate because
there is increased blood ow (erythema) in the
treatment eld. This aids in both tumor cell kill
and healing of normal tissues [6].
Biology and response of normal tissue plays
a crucial role in the response of skin to radiation
therapy. The ability of the skin system to repair
damage from therapy can be inuenced by many
factors, including general health, competing medical comorbidities, and concurrent or previous

164

FITZGERALD

therapies. Repair can be inuenced by chemotherapy and genetic predisposition to less robust
repair of injury (ataxia-telangietasia). Repopulation of stem cells can be inuenced by previous or
concurrent therapies, or by therapies that treat the
majority of dermal stem cells, such as total skin
radiation therapy and total body radiation therapy. Regeneration is inuenced by previous therapies and perturbations in cell cycle kinetics.
Reoxygenation is inuenced by the integrity of
the dermal structures of the host. For example,
similar to surgery, radiation therapy to areas of
the body without redundant dermal tissue (anterior tibia, sole of the foot, eyelid, and so on) often
requires more protracted treatment courses because of the limited infrastructure associated with
skin surfaces in those areas. Patients who have
severe leg edema have compromise in dermal
integrity and treating the lower extremity in these
patients; hence treatment strategies, which promote a higher degree of daily injury, are often
dicult in this cohort of patients because they are
poorly oxygenated and thus heal poorly. Areas of
previous graft placement often require protracted
treatment strategies for similar reasons. One has
to balance radiation treatment strategy of daily
dose and treatment volume with the factors that
inuence response to injury in the management of
patients. The biologic principals identied have
clear inuence in patient management.

Response of the skin to radiation therapy

Radiation therapy inhibits cells from dividing
and producing daughter progeny. Often cells must
go through three or four divisions for this eect to
be visualized. In the acute phase of management,
inhibition of mitosis of dermal stem cells appears
30 to 60 minutes after a single dose of 5 Gy, and is
followed by a clear decrease in the proliferation of
the stem cells along the basement membrane.
Eects on the endothelium are identied at this
level as well. One can see capillary dilatation
within a few hours of treatment, and increased
capillary permeability is identied. If radiation
therapy is given in several protracted treatment
doses (fractionated therapy), higher doses of
radiation therapy are needed to produce the
same eect because of the biologic principles
identied, including repair, repopulation, regeneration, and reoxygenation. As treatment continues, a series of classic changes are identied
in dermal tissue that are consistent with

et al

inammatory response to injury. These consist

of swelling and proliferation of capillary endothelial cells. In larger arteriole vessels, one begins to
see thickening of the tunica intima as time goes
on. The basal cells enlarge and demonstrate
nuclear enlargement. Similar eects occur in
maturing keratinocytes. These eects culminate
in the moist desquamation phase, which often is
visible 3 to 4 weeks after initiation of a relatively
protracted phase of management. This is manifested as vascular dilatation and hyperemia,
edema, and extravasation of blood cells [1,2,5].
Blisters may form as part of this process because
uid may coalesce into loculated areas. Similar
changes are seen in support structures of the
skin, and are exacerbated by the thinning and denudation of the epithelial layer of the skin. Hair
follicles can be damaged at doses as low as 3 to
4 Gy. In the experience of the authors department, patients have developed scalp alopecia
with doses as low as 3 Gy (though this is unusual).
Alopecia is not often visible until 2 to 4 weeks after the initiation of treatment, because hair follicles may adhere to strands of hair. Self-renewal
of scalp hair is thought to take 3 weeks, although
this can vary with environmental conditions. Hair
appears to have varied sensitivity in the body,
with the repopulation kinetics possibly inuenced
by its robust vascular supply. Hairs such as eyelashes and eyebrows appear to have a more delayed response and decreased repopulation
ability. Glandular structures likewise appear to
have delayed repopulation kinetics, because these
are slowly dividing cells. This explains why xerosis
remains a concern to patients long after therapy is
completed. Nails appear sensitive to radiation
therapy as well. If the nail matrix receives greater
than 15 Gy, nail regrowth is compromised. Therefore, in patients treated with total skin radiation
therapy, the nail beds (inferior to the cuticle) are
often shielded at 14 to 15 Gy. Although skin ulceration is rare with modern therapy techniques,
skin necrosis and ulceration can occur 2 to 3
month after completion of therapy, and are usually associated with soft tissue injury or infection.
This may be of increasing importance in future
patient care. In a similar manner to stereotactic
treatment techniques for the central nervous system, hypofractionation techniques are now being
employed for lesions in pulmonary parenchyma
and the liver. If necrosis inhibits the repopulation
and repair of the basement membrane, the skin
surface will be susceptible to further injury. With
injury to underlying blood vessels, the repair of

RADIATION THERAPY TOXICITY TO THE SKIN

the injury may take considerable time, and in rare

circumstance, may require surgical repair with
graft.
After the completion of treatment, there is
a progressive decrease in the size and number of
blood vessels, with a concomitant increase in
brous tissue within the irradiated treatment area.
The degree of brosis is inuenced by treatment
technique, type of treatment, total treatment dose,
and daily treatment fraction. In more serious cases,
the vasculature and soft connective tissue infrastructure continue to deteriorate and become
susceptible to further injury with concurrent decrease in support cells and glandular tissue. Histologic evaluation reveals atrophy of the epidermis,
with loss of dermal papillae. The basal layer reveals
a marked decrease in cell number and mitoses.
There is a thinning of the epidermis, a decrease in all
vascular elements, and the presence of telangiectasia secondary to injury to the microvasculature
[1,2,5]. Modern planning techniques using megavoltage energies have served to improve the clinical
outcome for these patients. Prevention of untoward
events should be the objective of advanced radiation therapy treatment technology.
Process improvements in radiation therapy
support improved patient outcome
Advanced technology radiation therapy has
generated a genuine opportunity to provide improved care for patients. Image-guided treatment
platforms provide three-dimensional reconstruction of normal tissue and tumor objects. Skin
rendering using three-dimensional planning computers is remarkably accurate, and can demonstrate skin folds and other areas of high risk of

165

injury from treatment. Intensity modulation permits rapid motion of multileaf collimators, which
can accommodate for multiple sloped surfaces of
skin surface. Unlike previous treatment strategies
that could not accommodate for multiple sloped
surfaces, intensity modulation can adjust for these
conditions and serve to decrease acute and presumably late dermal injury.
Fig. 1 is an example of the use of multileaf collimators for scalp epilation sparing for palliative
management of patients who have central nervous
system metastasis. Lateral eld radiation therapy
is used to treat the central nervous system. This
is a straightforward technique appropriate for palliative management; however, this technique creates a tangential treatment surface at the level of
the top of the skull. If one does not accommodate
for this sloped surface, the radiation dose to this
area is considerably higher both in daily and total
dose. A one-step eld within a eld modication
compensates for this surface, and facilitates the regrowth of hair to this region by creating a more
uniform radiation dose distribution to the scalp
surface. The evaluation of these late eects of
the skin and appendages is important for patient
outcome. Radiosurgery is altering the pattern of
failure for patients who have metastasis to the
central nervous system, and they may be living
longer. Therefore, patient alopecia outcome may
be improved with this technique.
Fig. 2 demonstrates improved radiation dose
distribution to the skin surface for a patient who
has head and neck cancer. These patients have
multiple sloped surfaces both in the neck and
jaw region. Oftentimes, skin demonstrates a moist
breakdown at multiple tangential surfaces, with
measurable dermal edema as a late eect at the

Fig. 1. A eld-in-eld technique (right) creating a more uniform dose distribution to scalp surface.

166

FITZGERALD

et al

Fig. 2. Transversal views of isodose lines on same patient planed with conversional lateral beams (left) and intensity
modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) technique (right).

level of the submental region. The degree of dermal skin reaction, including moist desquamation,
is exacerbated by neoadjuvant and concurrent
chemotherapy. Intensity modulation techniques
permit adjustment to all of these surfaces. In the
authors experience, intensity modulation techniques result in less acute and late injury of the
skin, with a near disappearance of submental dermal edema as a late eect of management. Although small segments of skin can actually
receive a higher dose than anticipated, the volume
of skin receiving this dose is minute in comparison
to historical two-dimensional techniques.
The breast, chest wall, and supraclavicular
regions likewise demonstrate improved outcome
with intensity modulation techniques. The authors
have demonstrated this improvement, especially
with adjusting the planning target volume for
intensity modulation [9,10]. The skin dose to the
breast is markedly improved with this technique.
The chest wall skin reaction for post-mastectomy
patients is also improved using this technique. The
slope of the supraclavicular fossa can create the
potential for skin erythema and breakdown most
often noted in areas of skin folds. Intensity modulation can also accommodate for this with bolus
application techniques.
Perhaps the best improvement in outcome for
patient care with intensity modulation is in the
anal and vulva cancer patient population. In these
patients the target volume includes multiple points
of interest, including inguinal lymph nodes.
Therefore the target volume includes areas of
interest in the anterior and pelvic midplane.
Two-dimensional and three dimensional techniques had to include multiple sloped surface

within the perineum. These patients are often

treated with concurrent chemotherapy that may
result in profound dermal injury during therapy,
resulting in signicant treatment interruption.
Fig. 3 demonstrates a treatment plan using intensity modulation, which can adjust for the multiple
sloped surfaces of the perineum. This has become
a major improvement in patient care.
Multiple sloped surfaces are likewise encountered for extremity therapy. Patients who have
sarcoma and other tumors of extremities have
multiple steep-sloped surfaces, including areas in
proximity to joint spaces. Fig. 4 demonstrates improved dosimetry to skin surface with intensity
modulation. The authors experience is that patients are having less skin erythema, dermal
edema, and interstitial edema because of this technique. There are clinical situations that require
augmenting the radiation dose to the skin surface.
Such dose adjustments are made when normal tissue is drawn in close approximation to the original tumor site as part of the skin closure. Using
image-guided objects to identify such areas serves
to decrease the volume of skin receiving the prescription dose, thus improving patient outcome.
Improvements in treatment planning are having signicant impact on patient outcome from
primary radiotherapy. This is important because
we are now encountering situations of retreatment. As patients survive their primary malignancy, we are asked to treat second cancers with
increasing frequency. Often, especially in head
and neck cancer, we need to bring the dose
through previously irradiated sites. Improving
initial techniques will likely make retreatment
safer for patients moving forward. This will be

RADIATION THERAPY TOXICITY TO THE SKIN

167

Fig. 3. Sagittal views of dose distributions from anteriorposterior pelvis plan (left), and IMRT plan (right).

an important area to study as requests for retreatment are increasing.

Drugradiography interactions
Medications and chemotherapy appear to interact with radiation therapy via several mechanisms. Some medications can sensitize cells to the
eects of radiation therapy, whereas some others
appear to support the repair of dermal injury.
Chemotherapy agents have been used in a concomitant basis with radiation therapy. Some have
demonstrated an increase in both acute and late
injury from radiation therapy. Actinomycin D,
methotrexate, and doxorubicin are well-established in augmenting dermal reactions to radiation therapy as well as increasing reactions to

tissues of limited self-renewal potential. Although

acute reactions are of concern, late injuries may be
of more importance. The two events are not
always related, however [1115]. A phase 3 randomized trial evaluating the ecacy of mitoxantrone and cyclophosphamide delivered with
radiation therapy inpatients with breast cancer
has demonstrated an increase risk of subcutaneous brosis and breast atrophy in the patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy on
a concurrent basis [16,17]. Interestingly, both tetracycline and St. Johns wort have been associated
with similar events; however, there is little evidence supporting this claim [18,19]. Amifostine
is the one medication associated with protection
of dermal toxicity from radiation management.
Topical steroids have been reported to decrease

Fig. 4. Transversal views of the same patient. Conventional three-dimensional plan (left) versus an IMRT plan (right).

168

FITZGERALD

dermal reaction from radiation treatment, likely

because of their anti-inammatory eects [20].
There is one report indicating that gauze with
granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM CSF) produces a similar eect, though
the mechanism has not been established [21].
Radiation recall phenomenon is clinically described but poorly understood [2224]. This phenomenon is characterized by the development of
skin erythema and erosion in a radiation treatment precipitated by an unrelated drug. This
eruption, similar to the skin changes observed
during radiation therapy, occur several months after the completion of radiation therapy. Many
chemotherapeutic agents and antibiotics have
been associated with this phenomenon (Box 1).
There is a case report associating statin medication with this phenomenon. The mechanism is

Box 1. Agents reported to precipitate

radiation recall phenomenon
Antibiotics
Cefotetan [25]
Gatifloxacin [26]
Cytotoxics [15]
5-fluorouracil
Actinomycin D
Doxorubicin
Bleomycin
Capecitabine
Dacarbazine
Docetaxel
Edatrexate
Etoposide
Gemcitabine
Hydroxyurea
Melphalan
Methotrexate
Oxaliplatin
Paclitaxel
Tamoxifen [27]
Trimetraxate
Vinblastine
Other agents
Phentermine [28]
Ultraviolet light [29]
Simvastatin [30]
Interferon alpha-2b [15]
Tuberculosis treatment [15]

et al

thought to be either autoimmune, a result of inadequate stem cell function, or idiosyncratic drug
sensitivity. Treatment is generally oral or topical
steroids, supportive care, or other anti-inammatory medication.
There have been anecdotal reports of bullous,
necrotic, generalized skin eruptions secondary to
radiation therapy [3134]. Patients who have autoimmune disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and scleroderma are reported to
have more acute and late complications from radiation management; however, these reports are
scattered and anecdotal. Matched-pair analysis
has not been able to validate this concern. Further
work in this area is important because it could
potentially aid oncologists in the treatment community when treating patients who have connective-tissue diseases such as scleroderma [31,34].

Secondary cutaneous malignancies as

a consequence of cancer management
As both pediatric and adult patients survive
their primary cancer, a new area of medicine is
beginning to mature. Advising patients concerning risks and sequelae of management is under
constant change and evaluation. Advising patients
concerning risks of secondary malignancies is an
important aspect of patient management and
consent [3544]. At this time, it remains dicult
to determine if the development of second cancers
is directly related to therapy or caused by predisposition of the host to the development of cancer
[3,4]. Independent of the specic etiology of the
event, it is clear that the predicted incidence of
skin cancer in the population of patients successfully treated for a primary cancer appears higher
than anticipated. Likewise, for patients treated
for cancer at a relatively young age (Hodgkins
disease), the age of developing a cutaneous malignancy is younger than anticipated. There is evidence that these patients have an increased risk
of developing melanoma in comparison to control
populations. The role of radiation therapy is not
established. This is often dicult to document, because dermal malignancies are not always coded
as second malignancies caused by treatment. The
relationship to the eld of radiation therapy is often not part of the follow-up process; hence the
data available for review are often incomplete.
At the St. Jude medical center prior to 1986,
four patients were evaluated for skin carcinoma
(basal cell carcinoma) in areas that received

RADIATION THERAPY TOXICITY TO THE SKIN

previous radiation therapy [8]. The treatment sites

were for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (central nervous system), Hodgkins disease, and neuroblastoma. Three patients treated for squamous cell
cancer of the skin had xeroderma pigmentosa. Before 1991, seven cases of basal cell carcinoma and
three cases of squamous cell carcinoma were identied at the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico [44]. Five of the seven patients who had basal
cell carcinoma had xeroderma pigment sum, one
had basal cell nevus syndrome, and one developed
tumor in a previous eld of radiation therapy. One
of the three patients who had squamous cell carcinoma had xeroderma pigmentosum. Radiation
doses used for pediatric malignancies are in the
low-to-intermediate range. If one assumes skinsparing treatment strategies including megavoltage
equipment, this raises an interesting question for
the follow-up of these patients moving forward [8].
One population that has been studied for
radiation-induced skin malignancies is a group of
children treated in Israel from 1948 until 1960 for
ringworm of the scalp. The mean scalp dose is 6.8
Gy. The relative risk of non-melanoma skin cancer
is 4.2, with 98% of these cancers being basal cell
carcinoma in the irradiated population. The mean
interval of time between radiation treatment and
the development of the malignancy is 21.6 years.
The risk appears to increase as the age of exposure
decreases. Chemotherapy appears to increase the
risk as well in a manner not well understood. The
risk of secondary epidermal malignancies generated from cancer therapy will require further study
to better dene the risk and identify preventative
strategies moving forward [3544].

Skin care for the radiation therapy patient

This is an important area for patient care.
Symptoms associated with skin injury both during
and after completion of radiation therapy are
often visible and uncomfortable for patients.
Patients largely prefer proactive management of
problems during treatment, and often written
instructions are very helpful for patients. Although cutaneous inammation can be observed
early in a traditional treatment course, often
itching and skin discomfort occur during the third
week of a treatment course as increase in blood
ow is identied at this time point of treatment.
As noted, the appearance of erythema is also
driven by daily fraction size, dermal volume in the
radiation therapy treatment eld, and the degree

169

of irregular dermal and subcutaneous contours

within the radiation therapy treatment eld. The
skin can also become xerotic as glandular cells
become less productive. Patients nd moisturizers
soothing because they decrease the degree of
discomfort and improve dryness.
Skin reactions during treatment can vary from
erythema to moist desquamation. Although the
degree of injury does not follow a mathematical
model, increased daily dose, increase volume of
treatment, and tangential treatment plans contribute to acceleration and duration of injury. The
patient and family are educated before starting
treatment, and are taught self-care management.
They are instructed to report redness and discomfort. Providers need to think of the area being
treated and the potential of skin breakdown, often
most noted in areas of skin folds (eg, perineal,
axillary, and inframammary). The patients skin
status is evaluated at least once per week, and is
graded on a 0 to 5 toxicity scale provided by the
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG).
The patient is given written instructions that
include gentle washing with warm water and
mild soap such as Ivory (Proctor/Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio), unscented Neutrogena (Neutrogena, Skillman, New Jersey), or unscented Dove
(Unilever, London, United Kingdom). Ivory soap
may result in increased dryness, however, because
of the lack of moisturizers. Soaps should be
unscented, pH balanced, and should not contain
lanolin. Scalp care should include a gentle shampoo and pat dry without a hairdryer. Patients
need to avoid gels, mousses, and hairspray. For
comfort and moisture, several skin creams are
recommended. They include Eucerin/Aquaphor
(Beiersdorf, Hamburg, Germany), Lubriderm
(Astra-Zenica, Westboro, Massachusetts), and
Carasyn gel (Allegro Medical Supplies, Tempe,
Arizona). These are applied after daily treatment,
with use on weekends as well. Plain, unscented,
lanolin-free hydrophilic cream may help decrease
the extent of injury. It is important to note,
however, that Aquaphore contains a small
amount of lanolin, and the patient should discontinue its use if any untoward skin symptoms
occur. A hydrocortisone 1% cream may be helpful in reducing itch (from increased blood ow)
and discomfort. Fungal infections can occur in
skin folds and need to be treated accordingly.
Patients are instructed to avoid nonelectric razors,
deodorants with metals, perfumed powders, and
excessive heat or cold. Friction and chlorinated
water may also add to skin irritation. Tape,

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underwire brassieres, and other tight garments

can be sources of friction, and are to be avoided in
areas receiving radiation. Along these lines, netting is preferred over tape to hold any wound
dressings in place. Patients are advised to rinse
with fresh water after exiting chlorinated water.
Vitamin E oil may also be helpful in the perineum
with sitz baths. If irritation increases with the use
of vitamin E oil, patients should discontinue its
use, because it can be a powerful contact allergen.
Skin reactions may progress after the treatment
is complete, but will heal at a relatively rapid rate.
The patient is instructed to continue with moisturizer. The treated area may remain hyperpigmented
for several months or years after completion of
therapy, depending on the patients baseline skin
color and ability to hyperpigment. Sun block (sun
protection factor or SPF 30 or higher) with ultraviolet A and B protection is recommended for sunexposed areas of skin treated with radiation.
After treatment, continued use of moisturizers
is very reasonable, because cutaneous sebaceous
glands have a relatively slow proliferative index
and often require months to repopulate and
return to function. With modern techniques,
brosis and skin ulceration should be rare, unless
treatment is delivered to site of previous injury or
to dermal tissues of limited integrity [45].

Summary
Radiation therapy remains an integral component of the care and management of the cancer
patient. Improvements in patient outcome and
survival create accelerated awareness of the eect
of therapy upon normal tissue. Cutaneous sequelae imposed by radiation therapy have undergone signicant change over past decades. As
process improvements have been made with both
radiation therapy equipment and planning, fewer
patients are experiencing acute or late changes to
epidermal and dermal surfaces from radiation
therapy. Optimal planning and treatment execution techniques have vastly improved the clinical
outcome for patients with respect to skin tolerance. These process improvements are important.
As advanced technology image platforms are
incorporated into radiation therapy treatment
plans, there exists signicant interest in moving
toward hypofractionation-based treatment strategies (fewer treatments at higher daily dose).
Through cranial radiosurgery treatment mechanisms, the patterns of relapse for patients who

et al

have disease in the central nervous system are

changing, with fewer relapses now identied in the
brain with careful application of these techniques.
The current strategy is to apply similar radiosurgery applications with gating technology to the
pulmonary and hepatic parenchyma moving forward. Historical experience with hypofractionation treatment strategies generated signicant
cutaneous sequelae. If we understand history,
perhaps we will not be condemned to repeat this
experience, especially as we incorporate more
advanced treatment technologies and higher therapy energies into the treatment paradigm. Lessons
learned from the initial experience with radiation
therapy will help us avoid sequelae imposed on
patients several decades ago as we move to
accelerated treatment platforms. Technology improvements, appropriately applied, will help decrease sequelae imposed by therapy. The volume
of therapy in the treatment eld likewise inuences outcome. Optimal planning helps to decrease the volume of high dose in the skin surface
and decrease the volume of skin exposed to
tangential radiography. Multileaf collimators permit dynamic adjustment to sloped surfaces, serving to decrease the risk of sequelae. Further
improvements in technology and experience of
practitioners will serve to improve outcome for
patients. Radiation therapy will be used to vet new
and improved targeted therapies as we move to
design treatments to molecular-based targets. We
have seen dermal consequence of epidermal growth
factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapies that, in
turn, have shown promise in head and neck cancer.
Concurrent use of targeted therapies is expected in
future protocols involving radiation therapy; therefore lessons learned from past experience may
again improve outcome for patients. As more
patients survive their primary oncology event, we
need to constantly re-evaluate the impact of
therapy on normal tissues to further improve
patient outcome. Radiation therapy is entering
a new phase of advanced technology treatment
platforms. As we mature with our knowledge of
advances in therapy technology, the patients we
care for will be better served.
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