The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) has issued a set of clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and management of acute radiation dermatitis, published by Behroozian et al in The Lancet Oncology. Patients with cancer—especially those with breast and head and neck cancers—are susceptible to the adverse effect associated with radiotherapy. After a four-round Delphi consensus process drawing on the opinions of over 40 experts, MASCC has issued six key intervention recommendations from the guidelines on the prevention of acute radiation dermatitis: photobiomodulation therapy and Mepitel film in people with breast cancer, Hydrofilm, mometasone, betamethasone, and olive oil; for management, Mepilex Lite dressings were recommended. The authors of the guidelines noted that other interventions were discussed, some reaching near-consensus for recommendation, but future research is required into these methods. They concluded, “In the meantime, these recommendations will guide clinicians on the best practices for preventing and managing acute radiation dermatitis given the current state of evidence and opinions of the expert panel.”


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