Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “RADIODERMATITIS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Abnormal phenotype of cultured fibroblasts in human skin with chronic radiotherapy damage.

PURPOSE: The pathophysiological aspects of radiation-induced fibrosis (RIF) have not been well characterized. We therefore cultured human fibroblasts from samples of skin with RIF to investigate the long-term effects of therapeutic irradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biopsies of normal and RIF skin were obtained from patients previously irradiated for cancer, without recurrence. Cells were extracted from dermis samples by the outgrowth technique, seeded as monolayers and cultured at confluence. Enzyme activities and proteins were assayed, RNA was isolated and Northern blot analysis was performed on surviving cells between passages 2 and 5. RESULTS: RIF cell cultures displayed heterogeneous fibroblasts populations. The initial outgrowth consisted of one-third small cells that floated rapidly, one-third spindle-shaped cells migrating far from the explant to form islets and one-third large pleiomorphic cells. In subsequent subcultures, surviving cells exhibited either myofibroblastic characteristics with a normal proliferative capacity or senescent morphology with a reduced proliferative capacity. These RIF cells had a brief finite lifespan, with dramatically reduced growth rate during their initial outgrowth and the following passages. Study of the antioxidant metabolism showed that Mn superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were significantly weaker in surviving RIF cells than healthy fibroblasts. These exhausted RIF cells exhibited no overexpression of transforming growth factor beta or tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase. CONCLUSION: Irradiation may lead to apparently contradictory effects such as fibrosis and necrosis in clinical practice. In cell culture, we observed two main cellular phenotypes which may be related to both processes, i.e. myofibroblast-like cells and fibrocyte-like cells. These two phenotypes may represent two steps in the differentiation induced as a long-term effect of therapeutic irradiation of the skin. Cell culture probably accelerates the induction of the terminal differentiation in RIF fibroblasts.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The radiosensitivity of human fibroblast cell lines correlates with residual levels of DNA double-strand breaks.

PURPOSE: To study the correlation of residual DNA double-strand breakage after irradiation and cellular radiosensitivity in cells showing marked differences in radiosensitivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The levels of DNA double-strand breaks remaining at 4 h after irradiation were measured by graded-voltage gel electrophoresis in fibroblast cell strains derived from seven individuals either with normal radiosensitivity (n = 2), or with genetic abnormalities known to show increased (two ataxia telangiectasia, one scid) or possibly decreased (two Li-Fraumeni family members) sensitivity. RESULTS: The slope of the dose-response curve for DNA breaks remaining unrepaired at 4 h showed a highly significant correlation with cellular radiosensitivity characterized by SF2, alpha, or D (r > or = 0.91, P < 0.001). Hence, this measure of genotoxic damage was predictive of radiation sensitivity for cells affected by a variety of mutations in different damage signalling/repair components. DISCUSSION: This correlation confirms another published study and extends it to cell lines with other genetic defects. The technique may be useful in the development of rapid assays to predict the sensitivity of normal tissues in patients receiving radiotherapy.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1998

20 MHz ultrasonic imaging for quantitative assessment and documentation of early and late postradiation skin reactions in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In dermatology high resolution ultrasonic systems proved to be valuable in following up genuine and experimental inflammatory dermatoses. The opportunities of 20 MHz ultrasonic imaging for quantitative assessment of early and late postradiation skin reactions are investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between April and November 1996, 96 high resolution ultrasound examinations of the skin in 29 patients treated for breast cancer at the University of Ulm were analyzed. Total doses between 46 and 60 Gy were applied. The time interval between the completion of radiotherapy and ultrasonic examination was < or =3 months in 18 patients and 6-135 months in 11 patients. For examinations we used a digital high resolution ultrasonic system with a ceramic 20 MHz transducer. Irradiated and non-irradiated skin were compared. RESULTS: A change of thickness and texture of the dermis depending on the time interval between the completion of radiotherapy and ultrasonic examination and on the administered radiation dose was found. There were significant differences between irradiated and non-irradiated skin regarding the dermal thickness in early (P < 0.001) as well as in late (P = 0.0018) reactions. Echogenicity of the upper and lower corium of irradiated skin decreased in early and late reaction. In upper corium the greatest reduction of signal intensity occurred in early reactions (P = 0.0001). Early reactions of the lower corium differed significantly from late changes (P = 0.001). Discrepancies between visible skin reactions described by examining physicians and ultrasonically proven changes were obvious mainly in late reactions. CONCLUSIONS: There are specific textures of early and late postradiation skin reactions in comparison to non-irradiated skin. High resolution digital 20 MHz ultrasound is non-invasive and quantitative, and in contrast to physical examination, an easy reproducible method for assessing and documenting early and late skin reaction during and after radiation therapy treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Does sucralfate reduce the acute side-effects in head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy? A double-blind randomized trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We evaluated sucralfate, well-known in the treatment of gastric ulcers, in relation to its possible reduction of radiation-induced acute complications in the treatment of head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred two patients were randomized in a double-blind placebo-controlled prospective setting. All patients were treated to a minimum dose of 55 Gy in 5 weeks. Oral intake of sucralfate was started at the beginning of radiotherapy and continued during the whole treatment at a dose of 1 g six times a day. All patients were scored according to a scoring system developed in our department. Weight was checked once a week. RESULTS: Comparing the time course of the mean scores for subjective intolerance, mucositis, dysphagia, dermatitis and nausea, no statistically significant differences between the two treatment arms (sucralfate, n = 38; placebo, n = 45) were observed. The mean weight loss in the sucralfate arm was 1.6 +/- 3.4 kg while it was 1.3 +/- 2.0 kg in the placebo arm. Apart from gastrointestinal upset, the administration of sucralfate did not cause any side-effects. CONCLUSION: This trial produced no clinical evidence indicating that the oral intake of sucralfate reduces the acute radiation-induced side-effects. Therefore, we do not recommend the prophylactic use of sucralfate in patients with head and neck cancer treated by radiotherapy.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1998

A dielectric method for measuring early and late reactions in irradiated human skin.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To measure the dielectric constant of irradiated human skin in order to test the feasibility of the dielectric measurements in the quantitation of acute and late radiation reactions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dielectric constant of irradiated breast skin was measured at an electromagnetic frequency of 300 MHz in 21 patients during postmastectomy radiotherapy. The measurements were performed with an open-ended coaxial line reflection method. The irradiation technique consisted of an anterior photon field to the lymph nodes and a matched electron field to the chest wall using conventional fractionation of five fractions/week to 50 Gy. Fourteen out of the 21 patients were remeasured 2 years later and the skin was palpated for subcutaneous fibrosis. RESULTS: At 5 weeks the dielectric constant had decreased by 31 and 39% for the investigated skin sites of the photon and electron fields, respectively. There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between the mean dielectric constant and the clinical score of erythema. An unexpected finding was a decrease of the dielectric constant of the contralateral healthy skin during radiotherapy. Two years later a statistically significant positive correlation was found between the dielectric constant at the irradiated skin sites and the clinical score of subcutaneous fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Dielectric measurements non-invasively yield quantitative information concerning radiation-induced skin reactions.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Differentiation state of skin fibroblast cultures versus risk of subcutaneous fibrosis after radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is increasing evidence for patient-to-patient variation in the response of normal tissue to radiotherapy. Recently, it has been suggested that accumulation of functional fibrocytes may be a key step in the development of radiation-induced fibrosis. Therefore, we have examined a possible relationship between the differentiation state of untreated fibroblasts and the risk of radiation-induced subcutaneous fibrosis in individual patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used skin fibroblast cultures isolated from eight postmastectomy radiotherapy patients whose individual clinical radiosensitivity was assessed by the mean excess risk of fibrosis. Different types of potentially mitotic progenitor fibroblasts (MF) and postmitotic functional fibrocytes (PMF) in the terminal differentiation lineage, MFI --> MFII --> MFIII --> PMF, were scored morphologically in clonal culture. Progression of differentiation was quantified by the ratio L/E of colony-forming late (MFIII and late MFII) and early (MFI and early MFII) progenitors. RESULTS: We observed a correlation between the ratio L/E and the mean risk of fibrosis (rs = 0.743, P = 0.03), indicating an approximately 10-fold increase in L/E with an increasing risk of fibrosis. This was paralleled by a decreasing trend in the absolute numbers of early progenitor types. By contrast, there was no significant correlation between the plating efficiency and the risk of fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that the risk of fibrosis increases with the progression of the differentiation of untreated progenitor fibroblasts, indicating that the progression of fibroblast differentiation may be a co-factor in the development of radiation-induced fibrosis. If this hypothesis is validated, it provides a rationale for a novel predictive test to identify patients with an increased risk of subcutaneous fibrosis.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Advice on hair and scalp care during cranial radiotherapy: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The advice on hair washing during brain irradiation is aimed at minimizing radiation induced skin toxicity. We performed a prospective randomized trial to assess the effect of advice on scalp care on the local skin reaction in patients undergoing cranial radiotherapy. METHODS: One hundred and nine patients undergoing cranial radiotherapy were randomized into two groups. Patients in group 1 were advised not to wash hair during treatment and patients in group 2 to maintain normal pattern of hair washing. They were assessed weekly over a period of 10 weeks from the start of treatment. Symptoms of pain and itching were recorded using a modified RTOG/EORTC acute skin reaction scoring system and skin reaction was assessed clinically using erythema/desquamation score. The frequency of hair washing and the distress of changing the practice of normal hygiene were recorded on a diary card. Skin reaction scores were compared as a summary measure using area under the curve per week (AUC/week) and median scores, and the differences between groups were assessed by means of the t-test. RESULTS: One hundred and nine patients commencing cranial radiotherapy according to standard protocol were randomized into the trial (group 1, 55 patients; group 2, 54 patients). Patients asked to restrict hair washing, washed at a lower average frequency. There were no significant differences between scores of skin reaction in the two groups for each of the variables measured. CONCLUSIONS: The practice of normal hair washing is not associated with increased severity of adverse skin reaction. As a request to change the pattern of normal hygiene may cause distress, the current advice should be to maintain normal hair washing during cranial radiotherapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Radiation recall reaction following gemcitabine.

A case of dermatitis and myositis in the upper thorax following administration of gemcitabine in a 65-year-old woman with metastatic non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is described. The reaction and time course suggest a radiation recall phenomenon. This report joins a small but increasing number of radiation recall events related to gemcitabine. The possibility of a radiation recall reaction should be borne in mind when a patient develops symptoms in a previously irradiated site without evidence of disease progression at that site. Cessation of the precipitating drug is the most important step in management and systemic steroids may hasten symptomatic relief.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Preliminary analysis of a phase II study of Paclitaxel and CHART in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb) is one of the most active single agents for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and ideal in combination with radiation therapy. We designed a phase II study to determine the efficacy and toxicity of continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) and concurrent weekly Paclitaxel (T) in good performance status patients with unresectable stage III A and B NSCLC. T (60 mg/m2) was given as a 3-h infusion on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 36; CHART was started on day 15 with 150 cGy/fraction given three times a day for a total dose of 54 Gy in 12 days with no weekend break. Twenty patients were evaluable for acute toxicity. The major acute toxicities were esophagitis and pulmonary toxicity; 70% of the patients experienced grade 2-3 esophagitis and 50% experienced grade > or = 3 pulmonary toxicity. Grade 3 anemia developed in only one patient. Of the 17 patients evaluable for late toxicity, 12% of the patients had grade 3 pulmonary toxicity, one patient developed grade 4 esophagitis. Nineteen patients were evaluable response. The overall response rate was 84% (95% confidence interval, 60-97). CHART with concurrent weekly T seems to be an effective regimen, but tolerability needs to be documented with a larger number of patients and longer follow-up.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Localization of Sweet's syndrome in radiation-induced locus minoris resistentae.

Sweet's syndrome is a reactive dermatosis clinically characterized by fever, leukocytosis, and multiple, erythematous, painful plaques. Histopathologically, the lesions show edema of the papillary dermis and a dermal infiltrate mainly composed of neutrophils, without vasculitis. We describe a patient with breast carcinoma and Sweet's syndrome mostly involving previously irradiated skin.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Reactions to ionizing radiation.

This review deals with essential physical and biologic aspects of ionizing radiation as related to dermatology. The discussion of major physical factors and basic biophysics includes the production of x rays, dose definitions and recent changes in terminology, various factors affecting dose and tissue damage and current radiotherapy methods. The biologic effects and potential risks of ionizing radiation are reviewed in detail, particularly the major nonstochastic and stochastic somatic effects, such as radiation-induced skin cancer, thyroid carcinoma, breast cancer, and other radiogenic neoplasms. Current methods of risk assessment, radiation carcinogenesis, the efficacy of radiation protection technics, and potential genetic effects are critically evaluated.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1988

Bullous pemphigoid after radiation therapy.

Electron beam therapy applied to a lymph node metastasis from a squamous cell carcinoma was followed by the development of histologically and immunologically typical bullous pemphigoid, the lesions being initially strictly confined to the irradiation area. This observation suggests that the bullous pemphigoid antigen may be altered or unmasked by electron beam radiotherapy, leading subsequently to the production of autoantibodies. The disease in this case effectively responded to the administration of tetracycline and niacinamide, a therapeutic regimen described recently.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Radiation port dermatophytosis.

We report two cases in which dermatophytic infection developed almost entirely within a radiation field mimicking an acute radiation effect. Radiotherapists and dermatologists should be aware of this possibility and be able to differentiate it from radiation dermatitis. Topical antifungal agents are the recommended treatment after diagnosis is established.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Mucocutaneous complications of intraarterial 5-bromodeoxyuridine and radiation.

5-Bromodeoxyuridine (BUDR), a halopyrimidine thymidine analogue, is incorporated into the DNA of dividing cells and causes photoradiosensitization. Twenty-five patients with malignant astrocytomas were treated with continuous intracarotid BUDR radiosensitization and radiotherapy for 8 1/2 weeks. Unique dose-limiting mucocutaneous complications were encountered. Ipsilateral facial dermatitis with epilation of eyebrows and eyelashes, ocular irritation, and bilateral nail dystrophy developed in all patients. Less common reactions included oral ulceration in six patients, body exanthem on the trunk in five, and atypical erythema multiforme major in one.

Alopecia↗
PubMed1996

Localized scleroderma in breast cancer patients treated with supervoltage external beam radiation: radiation port scleroderma.

BACKGROUND: An association between systemic scleroderma, radiation, and breast cancer has been recognized. However, localized scleroderma in the radiation port of breast cancer patients has been rarely described. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe the concurrence of localized scleroderma, supervoltage radiation, and breast carcinoma. METHODS: Patients were prospectively evaluated in a tertiary care cancer center, and the literature was reviewed. RESULTS: We describe six patients with breast cancer in whom localized scleroderma developed within their radiation port. CONCLUSION: Radiation port localized scleroderma can be a sequela of supervoltage radiation therapy in patients with breast cancer. Recognition is important because localized scleroderma can clinically mimic recurrent breast carcinoma.

Breast Neoplasms↗