Prospective practice survey of management of cetuximab-related skin reactions.

PURPOSE: Evidence-based guidelines on how to prevent or treat cetuximab-related skin reactions are lacking and multiple care and management strategies are used. The main purpose of the present study is to gain information about the different skincare products being used against skin reactions in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and recurrent/metastatic (R/M) or locally advanced (LA) squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN) patients treated with cetuximab. METHODS: An open-label, prospective observational study conducted in the Netherlands. The occurrence of skin reactions and the care and management options taken were documented for 16 weeks, starting from the first administration of cetuximab. RESULTS: A total of 103 patients were included in 7 hospitals. 38 patients (37%) developed a grade ≥ 2 skin reaction. Eighty-six patients could be analysed for the primary endpoint (73.3% males, mean age 62.4 years, n = 44 LA SCCHN, n = 16 R/M SCCHN, n = 26 mCRC). The most frequently used skin products at some point during the observation period were moisturizing products (70%), systemic antibiotics (64%), topical antibiotics (58%), lipid-regenerating (28%) and other topical products (28%). The overall use of products gradually increased from baseline to week 6-10, reducing by week 16. Hospital protocols were the primary reason (> 50%) for choice of the skincare products and medications. CONCLUSION: A variety of skin care products and antibiotics were commonly used. Only few patients developed severe cutaneous reactions. For patients, the occurrence of skin reactions did not influence their willingness to continue cetuximab therapy.

Oral Mucosal Injury Caused by Targeted Cancer Therapies.

Targeted cancer therapies have fundamentally transformed the treatment of many types of cancers over the past decade, including breast, colorectal, lung, and pancreatic cancers, as well as lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. The unique mechanisms of action of these agents have resulted in many patients experiencing enhanced tumor response together with a reduced adverse event profile as well. Toxicities do continue to occur, however, and in selected cases can be clinically challenging to manage. Of particular importance in the context of this monograph is that the pathobiology for oral mucosal lesions caused by targeted cancer therapies has only been preliminarily investigated. There is distinct need for novel basic, translational, and clinical research strategies to enhance design of preventive and therapeutic approaches for patients at risk for development of these lesions. The research modeling can be conceptually enhanced by extrapolating "lessons learned" from selected oral mucosal conditions in patients without cancer as well. This approach may permit determination of the extent to which pathobiology and clinical management are either similar to or uniquely distinct from oral mucosal lesions caused by targeted cancer therapies. Modeling associated with oral mucosal disease in non-oncology patients is thus presented in this context as well. This article addresses this emerging paradigm, with emphasis on current mechanistic modeling and clinical treatment. This approach is in turn designed to foster delineation of new research strategies, with the goal of enhancing cancer patient treatment in the future.