What Can We Learn from Researching in an Overcrowded Research Area? Lessons Learned from the 50 Years of Research on Radiation Dermatitis

Radiation dermatitis (RD) remains one of the most common side effects, affecting majority of patients receiving radiotherapy. Despite the advances in radiation treatment techniques, our recent clinical trials indicated as high as 85% of patients (with mixed-cancer type) undergoing radiotherapy experienced dry desquamation and 15% of patients experienced moist desquamation, requiring wound dressing. These proportions were even higher in patients receiving treatment to their head and neck. Given the high prevalence of RD, much attention and resources have been invested into research to identify the best solution to manage and resolve this treatment side effects. The first randomized controlled trial (RCT) on RD prevention and management can be traced back to 1962 conducted in the UK, which investigated the effects of steroid and antibiotic ointment versus antibiotic control ointment versus no ointment on the severity of RD. Since then, the literature on RD prevention and management has been growing and has been “overcrowded”. This abstract outlines the lessons learnt from the 50 years of research on radiation dermatiti