Avoiding antiperspirants during breast radiation therapy: Myth or sound advice?

Brian C Baumann; Chuan Zeng; Gary M Freedman; Ioannis I Verginadis; Kelly M MacArthur; Lilie L Lin; Carolyn Vachani; Constantinos Koumenis; Timothy D Solberg; James M Metz

doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2017.06.021

Avoiding antiperspirants during breast radiation therapy: Myth or sound advice?

Radiother Oncol. 2017 Aug;124(2):204-207. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2017.06.021. Epub 2017 Jul 18.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
² ProCure Proton Therapy Center, Somerset, NJ, United States.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; OncoLink, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.

PMID: 28733055
DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2017.06.021

Abstract

Breast cancer patients are typically advised to avoid antiperspirants for fear of increasing radiation dermatitis in the axilla. We hypothesized that antiperspirants would have minimal effect on skin dose. We found no difference in surface dose±antiperspirants using 6MV photons at gantry angles of 0°/30°/60°/90° regardless of aluminum concentration.

Keywords: Antiperspirants; Breast radiotherapy; Radiation dermatitis.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Antiperspirants / adverse effects*
Axilla / radiation effects
Breast Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
Contraindications, Drug
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Photons / adverse effects
Photons / therapeutic use
Radiodermatitis / chemically induced
Radiodermatitis / etiology*
Radiodermatitis / prevention & control
Skin / drug effects
Skin / radiation effects
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult

Substances

Antiperspirants