Radiation dermatitis: the evaluation of a new topical therapy for the treatment and prevention of radiation-induced skin damage and moist desquamation: a multicentre UK case cohort study

Abstract Introduction: Radiotherapy is a mainstay of cancer therapy for a wide variety of anatomical areas. An unfortunate side effect of treatment can be radiation damage to the skin which can be a painful and debilitating problem. Previous experience from the experimental use of Flamigel® in two large-scale clinical studies on affected skin has proven sufficiently positive for the addition of a new product in the Flamigel® family (now commercially available in the UK as Flamigel RT®, Flen Health UK). The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the use of this new product to study how effective it is in the prevention and/or treatment of radiation-induced skin damage. Materials and methods: A survey was conducted among radiotherapy specialist teams in dedicated UK radiotherapy centres between 1 January 2017 and 31 October 2017. This report is of a preliminary evaluation conducted by UK-based specialists on 108 patients undergoing radiotherapy. The scoring system for skin reactions of the ‘Radiation Therapy Oncology Group’ was used. Results: Results show that the use of Flamigel® has the potential to soothe ( p = 0·0001), reduce pain ( p = 0·0001) and reduce pruritus ( p = 0·004). The product met the expectations of the clinicians involved ( p < 0·0001) of whom most were happy to continue use or to recommend its use to colleagues ( p < 0·0001). Conclusions: Flamigel® is an effective treatment in the management of radiation-induced skin reactions. Erythema was unchanged through the study period ( p = 0·42). No adverse reactions were reported after the use of Flamigel from twice to six times a day.