Dermatological Alterations Associated with Oncological Treatment of Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Several side effects can affect the skin and its attachments during cancer treatment of women with breast cancer, compromising the therapy. Objective: To identify the occurrence of dermatological changes during cancer treatment of women with breast cancer. Method: Quantitative approach, documentary and retrospective study, using secondary data obtained from 190 clinical records (n=190) from a private oncology service. Results: The participants had a mean age of 53 years (±11.2), with histopathological diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma (85.8%). All participants were exposed to chemotherapy, 65.3% to radical mastectomy and 34.2% to radiotherapy. The dermatological alterations identified, and the occurrences verified in the sample were alopecia (94.2%), hyperpigmentation (48.4%), pruritus (36.3%), erythema (6.8%), desquamation (25.8%) and nail alterations (77.9%). In all, 550 dermatological alterations were identified, resulting in an average of 2.9 (±1.3) changes per patient. Radiotherapy was associated with a higher occurrence of erythema (p<0.001) and women exposed to taxanes were more likely to manifest dermatological alterations than those unexposed (p<0.001), sociodemographic factors were not associated. Conclusion: The occurrence of dermatological alterations identified in the participants was significant, reinforcing that these manifestations may be frequent in women with breast cancer during oncological treatment, requiring prevention and treatment actions.