Cutaneous side effects of oncology treatments. Part I. Chemotherapy

There are two therapeutic options for patients with cancer: radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The latter is subdivided into conventional chemotherapy and targeted chemotherapy. Both categories of chemotherapy treatment induce side effects, although these are more frequent with conventional chemotherapy than with targeted chemotherapy. These side effects are frequently affecting the skin, hair and nails. In this review, all categories of chemotherapeutical drugs are considered and the adverse events related with each drug are described. The most severe events are hypersensitivity reactions, which can endanger the patient’s life. Besides, the most common cutaneous reactions will be maculopustular or papulopustular rashes, hand and foot skin syndrome, edema, erythema, hyperpigmentation disorders or photosensitivity reactions. Stomatitis is also frequent on oral mucosa. Regarding hair, anagen effluvium and alopecia are frequently observed, whilst the nails are also affected by many of these treatments. This review describes these side effects and their symptoms and diagnosis, giving tips for prevention and treatment of the same.