Radiation-induced skin toxicity is the most prevalent side effect of radiation therapy. Not only does it have a significant effect on patients' quality of life, but it also results in poor follow-up and early termination of radiotherapy treatment. Several skin care practices and topical applications have been studied in the field of radiodermatitis, including skin washing, topical steroids, and mechanical skin barriers. Aside from these methods, many patients turn to complementary and alternative medicine for the prevention and treatment of radiodermatitis. Many of these alternative therapies are topically applied antioxidants. While the rationale behind the use of antioxidants in treating radiodermatitis is strong, clinical studies have been far less consistent. Even in large scale randomised controlled trials, findings have been limited by the inconsistent use of topical vehicles and placebos. In this article, the authors review the role of topical antioxidants to better help the practitioner navigate through different available skin directed antioxidants.
Keywords: Antioxidants; Free-radical formation; Radiation oncology; Radiation therapy side-effects; Radiodermatitis; Skin care.