Objective: The common adverse effects associated with targeted therapy for cancer, such as epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRIs), are dermatologic toxicities that cause the patient physical discomfort and affect treatment. Colloidal oatmeal lotion (COL) has been proven to help prevent dermatitis and xerosis. Evidence of its effect on EGFRI-induced dermatologic toxicities, however, is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of COL on EGFRI-induced dermatologic toxicities.
Design and setting: This study used a 1-group pretest-posttest design with a convenience sample of 30 patients with cancer who developed EGFRI-induced dermatologic toxicities from a medical center in southern Taiwan. All participants applied topical COL 3 to 5 times a day for 4 consecutive weeks and received a pretest and 4 posttests.
Outcome measures: A generalized estimating equation was used to assess the impact of demographics, disease characteristics, and weeks of COL use on dermatologic toxicity severity, body surface area affected, and level of pruritus.
Main results: Significant differences were found between the pretest and all posttests after using COL with regard to the severity, body surface area affected, and level of pruritus in participants who developed EGFRI-induced dermatologic toxicities (P < .05). There were no significant differences in demographics or disease characteristics on EGFRI-induced dermatologic toxicities.
Conclusions: Based on the study results, COL could improve the symptoms of dermatologic toxicities in those receiving EGFRIs with no adverse effects. Therefore, the authors suggest the use of COL in clinical settings.