Radiation recall dermatitis occurring 6 years and 4 months after breast-conserving surgery: A case report.
Currently in Japan, breast-conserving therapy, consisting of breast-conserving surgery and post-operative radiation therapy, is performed frequently for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. It has been demonstrated that radiation therapy not only prevents recurrence in the preserved breast, but that it also contributes to improved patient survival. The present study describes the case of a 37-year-old woman with radiation recall dermatitis that occurred 6 years and 4 months after breast-conserving surgery. Erythema with a relatively distinct border was observed at the irradiated site on the left breast; eczema was diagnosed by a dermatologist. Inflammatory breast cancer was ruled out, since chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound and bone scintigraphy were negative. Following ~1 month of topical corticosteroid application and oral second generation antihistamine treatment, the erythema was alleviated and the subjective symptoms also disappeared. Only a few cases of radiation recall dermatitis have been described in the fields of radiology and dermatology, but not yet in the surgical field. In the future, the incidence of radiation recall dermatitis is predicted to increase due to the increasing number of patients undergoing breast-conserving therapy. Whether in the surgical, radiological or dermatological field, if erythema is detected at the irradiated site during post-operative follow-up, routine care should be provided, keeping in mind the possibility of radiation recall dermatitis and inflammatory breast cancer.
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Mamiko
M
Ubukata
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Takako
T
Kamio
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Tetsuya
T
Ohchi
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Eiichiro
E
Noguchi
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Hiroko
H
Tsukada
Department of Surgery II, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Shingo
S
Kameoka
breast cancer; breast-conserving surgery; radiation recall dermatitis; tamoxifen; tamoxifen-induced radiation recall dermatitis