Investigation of radiοdermatitis in children, adolescents and young adults with cancer

Introduction: Radiation dermatitis in children covers a wider range of symptoms and manifestations of skin toxicity after radiation therapy (RT). The rapid development of radiology in recent years has led to a significant improvement in the effectiveness of cancer treatment. Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the incidence of radiodermatitis in children, adolescents and young adults with cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Method and Material: A systematic review of the literature was conducted from 01/01/2002 to 15-02-2022, using the keywords: “radiotherapy, radiology, toxicity, dermatitis, radiodermatitis, actinodermatitis, dermatologic complications, pediatric patients, children, cancer”, for articles written in English language, in the following databases: MEDLINE (via PubMed), The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science Collection, and Scopus. The PICOTS process (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Timing, Setting) was used as an evaluation criterion for the induction of articles in the study. After the articles’ evaluation 16 articles emerged. Results: The results of 16 studies in 2,818 children, adolescents and young adults showed that dermal toxicity after radiotherapy varies not only in the frequency of occurrence but also with the severity and its extent, independently of the radiotherapy method. Skin effects of radiodermatitis vary considerably in severity, course and prognosis and the most obvious relation of its occurrence was the higher dose RT and the extent of skin therapy. Moreover, there is limited evidence indicating higher rates of radiodermatitis in smaller children in comparison to adolescents or young adults. Conclusions: The incidence of radiodermatitis in children undergoing radiotherapy appears to occur quite frequently. Further research is needed to substantiate strong evidence for the assessment and management of radiodermatitis.

Keywords: radiation oncology, children, hospitalized, radiodermatitis