Prevention of radiation induced dermatitis in head and neck cancer patients using cryptomphalus aspersa secretion

Radiotherapy (RT) is a technique widely used in oncology, acquiring special prominence in head and neck cancer (HNC). RT of HNC may be associated with secondary effects including skin reaction, being dermatitis the most common radio-induced side effect during treatment.

The use of a wide variety of agents is reported to handle skin toxicity. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the different level-concentration of Snail Cryptomphalus Aspersa (SCA) that best protect from radiation-induced radiodermatitis in HNC.

We performed a single institutional pilot study to assess the skin toxicity with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SCA concentration during RT treatment and 1 and 3 months after the treatment finished according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) scoring. A total of 72 patients with HNC diagnosis who received RT with/without Chemotherapy (Ch) between January of 2018 and June of 2020 were assessed. Radiodermatitis grade was stastistically correlated with the SCA level-concentration and with the influence of extranodal extension status (ENE).

A reduction in the rate of grade ≥ II patients’ dermatitis was dependent on SCA level-concentration. We found that with higher SCA level-concentration (10 and 15%, patients had 34 and 38% grade ≥ II respectively), this was less than with 0 and 5% SCA level-concentration where a 58% radiodermatitis grade ≥ II was found by Cox regression analysis; p = 0.017 and p = 0.045 respectively.

We could conclude that the application of a 10–15% SCA level-concentration after adjusting by ENE, was the best concentration to reduce the rate of grade ≥ II radiodermatitis.