In Vivo Early Detection of Acute Radiation Dermatitis Using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Images

Radiation therapy remains an essential component of cancer treatment, with nearly 50% of cancer patients receiving radiation therapy at some point during the course of their illness. Of those, as many as 90-95% may experience some form of acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) or radiation-induced skin injury. ARD results in significant discomfort, restriction of daily activities, overall decrease in the quality of life and even cessation of the necessary radiation therapy with detrimental survival effects. Unfortunately, research into the causes and possible management strategies for ARD is hindered by the lack of biomarkers for the quantitative assessment of the early changes associated with the condition. This study provides the basis to yield such novel biomarkers using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images with the extraction of conventional image intensity and novel features. Patients were imaged twice each week over the six-week course of their radiation treatment. The severity of the cases was graded by an expert oncologist. Preliminary results, separating normal skin from early ARD, were very promising, yielding an accuracy of 88.3%.Cyprus Research Promotion Foundatio