How do you take care of your skin when you have cancer?

What is chemotherapy? 

Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that aims to stop the growth of cancer cells. It acts either by killing these cells or by preventing them from multiplying³.

Chemotherapy can be given orally, by injection or infusion, or on the skin, depending on the protocol chosen for the type and stage of cancer being treated. It can be combined with other therapies such as surgery, radiotherapy or biological therapy³. Chemotherapy should not be confused with other cancer treatments such as targeted therapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy⁴. ​

Chemotherapy works with the cell cycle. In fact, each time a new cell divides to form two functional cells, it goes through a process involving a series of phases: the cell cycle. Chemotherapies target cells at different stages of the cell cycle. ​

Cancer cells tend to divide to form new cells faster than healthy cells, making them a prime target for chemotherapy. Unfortunately, chemotherapy drugs do not distinguish between normal and cancerous cells. Healthy cells are, therefore, damaged along with the cancer cells, causing side effects⁴. ​

What is radiotherapy? 

Radiotherapy is a treatment that uses radioactive radiation to destroy cancer cells. It works by preventing cancer cells from multiplying⁵. It is a locoregional cancer treatment, i.e. it only acts on a limited area of the body⁶. More than one in two patients treated for cancer receive radiotherapy at some stage of their treatment⁵. ​

There are several types of radiotherapy⁵: ​

• External radiotherapy: the rays are directed at the area of the body to be treated. The rays penetrate the skin to reach the cancer cells. ​
• Brachytherapy: where the radioactive source is directly in contact with the area to be treated.
• Metabolic radiotherapy: the radioactive elements are ingested orally or administered intravenously.

When irradiating a tumour, it is impossible not to irradiate, even partially, the surrounding tissue and, therefore, damage non-cancerous cells. This also applies to external radiation therapy, where the radiation passes through healthy tissue such as the skin⁷. ​

The impact of chemotherapy on the skin

The skin is not spared from this and certain chemotherapies can cause temporary changes to your skin⁸: dryness, discolouration, photosensitivity, i.e. increased sensitivity to light and in particular to the sun's rays, redness, pain, itching

Chemotherapy can also cause nails to become brittle or scaly, cracked, and cuticles can become painful^1,8.

How do you take care of your skin when undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy? 

Most of the time, prevention is the best way to manage skin problems² related to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment. ​

Simple steps and daily skin care will minimise the side effects on the skin induced by chemotherapy and the occurrence of radiodermatitis¹⁵ : 

• Avoid products that are irritating to the skin. This includes washing products containing soap and all scented products²
• Gently dry by dabbing the skin with a towel rather than rubbing it
• Use, at least twice a day and within 15 minutes of showering, a specifically formulated emollient to properly and durably hydrate the skin². The emollient should be applied some time before or after the radiotherapy sessions (at least four hours before)