Objective changes in skin parameters during radiotherapy may assist in predicting patients most at risk of skin toxicity and identify intervention strategies to reduce radiation dermatitis, but to date have only been minimally investigated [1, 2, 3]. While most patients tolerate conventional treatment well, predictive tools may be helpful in selecting those at high-risk for inclusion in toxicity intervention trials. The aim of this study was to quantify acute changes in skin parameters longitudinally during breast radiotherapy in a representative cohort of patients, and toidentify...

The trial was approved by The Canberra Hospital Human Research Ethics committee. The Dermalab Combo is a probe-based platform capable of quantitative assessment of multiple skin parameters in a non-invasive manner including: skin erythema index skin hydration dermal thickness elasticity water permeability Acute reliability of captured parameters was assessed by repeat measurements on the forearm of a single volunteer, and natural variation longitudinally over a two-week period on two pre-defined areas of the untreated breast of a female volunteer. Our target study group was patients...

Repeat measurements of the same parameters showed excellent concordance, for instance hydration hada SEM of 3% (see figure 4). Variation in measured erythema, melanin, hydration and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) in our untreated control was 20% or less over the two week period. Measured elasticity was more variable with a standard deviation of 38-61%. Ultrasound related measurements were found to be strongly operator dependant (>10 operators in this study), and were not analysed further. With respect to hydration that is the focus of this presentation,...

Using an objective measure of skin hydration, we were able to identify a subgroup of patients more at risk of declining hydration during treatment. These patients had an intermediate baseline hydration status prior to treatment, suggesting that pre-treatment interventions might be of possible benefit.Our dataalso provides a quantitative base for future studies assessing objective acute skin toxicities.

[1] Wong, R.K., et al., Clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of acute and late radiation reactions from the MASCC Skin Toxicity Study Group. Support Care Cancer, 2013. 21(10): p. 2933-48. [2] Kumar, S., et al., Management of skin toxicity during radiation therapy: A review of the evidence. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 2010. 54(3): p. 264-279. [3] Russell, N.S., et al., Quantification of patient to patient variation of skin erythema developing as a response to radiotherapy. Radiotherapy Oncology, 1994. 30(3):...