Evaluation of chemotherapy-induced cutaneous side effects in cancer patients

Cutaneous side effects are commonly seen in cancer chemotherapy. As new chemotherapy drugs are developed, the frequency and the diversity of these cutaneous side effects increase. For this reason, identification and management of these side effects are an important part of the treatment of cancer patients. This study aimed to investigate mucocutaneous side effects of conventional chemotherapy and targeted therapy agents that are used in cancer patients.

In this cross-sectional study, 231 cancer patients, who received single or combination chemotherapy at the oncology department of our hospital between 2013 and 2020, were retrospectively reviewed, and mucocutaneous side effects we evaluated.

The ages of the patients varied between 27 and 90 years with a median age of 60 years. Of the patients, 136 (58.9%) were women, and 95 (41.1%) were men. Combination chemotherapy was applied to 174 patients (71.9%). A total of 558 mucocutaneous side effects were present in 231 patients. The most common side effect was alopecia, which was observed in 158 patients (65.6%). This was followed by mucositis (39.4%), hand-foot syndrome (35.3%), papulopustular rash (22%), dermatitis (18.3%), xerosis (14.1%), nail disorders (12%), and others.

Although chemotherapy-induced cutaneous side effects are not usually life-threatening, they may lead to the development of morbidity and discontinuance or termination of the treatment. Therefore, these side effects should be well managed to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.