TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of hyaluronic acid on radiodermatitis in patients with breast cancer
T2 - a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
AU - Lee, Chieh Jui
AU - Fang, Hui Fen
AU - Wang, Chin Yun
AU - Chou, Kuei Ru
AU - Huang, Tsai Wei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background: Radiodermatitis is commonly experienced by patients with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy, affecting their quality of life and potentially leading to cancer treatment postponement. Recently, people who use natural substances to treat radiodermatitis have attracted more and more attention. However, there is no unanimous conclusion to follow. Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared hyaluronic acid with other topical agents in patients with breast cancer. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were searched for eligible articles. The primary outcome indicating symptom relief was a decreased radiodermatitis grade. The secondary outcome indicating symptom relief was preference and desquamation. The study is registered with PROSPERO (number: CRD42021237793). Results: Eight RCTs that together enrolled 500 patients were analyzed. Six studies assessed the radiodermatitis grade and found significant differences in three of eight subgroups. The subgroups comparing hyaluronic acid with phytosterol, omega-3, 6, 9, and vitamin E showed significantly lower risk ratios. In two subgroups, the effect of hyaluronic acid was not significantly different from that of grapevine extract and Avene thermal water. The remaining three studies reported that other topical agents exerted a nonsignificantly better effect than hyaluronic acid did. Physicians’ preference was better for the control group, while the patients’ preference for hyaluronic acid was better, and there was no statistical difference. In addition, our study showed that desquamation events were few in the hyaluronic group. Conclusions: Hyaluronic acid can show a better effect than other topical drugs and the lower incidence in desquamation events. Since hyaluronic acid has no obvious side effects, we recommend it as one of the alternative options. Further research is required to evaluate this effect comprehensively.
AB - Background: Radiodermatitis is commonly experienced by patients with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy, affecting their quality of life and potentially leading to cancer treatment postponement. Recently, people who use natural substances to treat radiodermatitis have attracted more and more attention. However, there is no unanimous conclusion to follow. Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared hyaluronic acid with other topical agents in patients with breast cancer. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were searched for eligible articles. The primary outcome indicating symptom relief was a decreased radiodermatitis grade. The secondary outcome indicating symptom relief was preference and desquamation. The study is registered with PROSPERO (number: CRD42021237793). Results: Eight RCTs that together enrolled 500 patients were analyzed. Six studies assessed the radiodermatitis grade and found significant differences in three of eight subgroups. The subgroups comparing hyaluronic acid with phytosterol, omega-3, 6, 9, and vitamin E showed significantly lower risk ratios. In two subgroups, the effect of hyaluronic acid was not significantly different from that of grapevine extract and Avene thermal water. The remaining three studies reported that other topical agents exerted a nonsignificantly better effect than hyaluronic acid did. Physicians’ preference was better for the control group, while the patients’ preference for hyaluronic acid was better, and there was no statistical difference. In addition, our study showed that desquamation events were few in the hyaluronic group. Conclusions: Hyaluronic acid can show a better effect than other topical drugs and the lower incidence in desquamation events. Since hyaluronic acid has no obvious side effects, we recommend it as one of the alternative options. Further research is required to evaluate this effect comprehensively.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Hyaluronic acid
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Radiodermatitis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123242027&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85123242027&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00520-022-06828-7
DO - 10.1007/s00520-022-06828-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85123242027
SN - 0941-4355
VL - 30
SP - 3965
EP - 3975
JO - Supportive Care in Cancer
JF - Supportive Care in Cancer
IS - 5
ER -