Influence of radiation therapy on skin circulation in the breast after breast conservative surgery

It is not known whether the skin circulation is altered in the long term by radiotherapy following breast conservative surgery. The skin circulation in the breast was therefore measured in 24 breast cancer patients (mean age 57 years; range 40-76), one year after radiotherapy (50 Gy) following lumpectomy. None of the patients showed any persistent redness of the skin. The skin circulation was measured using laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF) and fluorescein flowmetry within three areas: 2 cm above the border of the areola (position 1), within the nipple-areola complex (position 2) and 2 cm below the border of the areola (position 3). It was found that when measured with LDF, the skin circulation expressed as the ratio of operated irradiated to non-operated non-irradiated breast was 0.99 in position 1, 1.07 in position 2 and 0.91 in position 3; and when measured by fluorescein flowmetry, 1.00 in position 1, 1.08 in position 2 and 1.00 in position 3. The results indicate that radiotherapy following breast conservative surgery does not lead to long-term changes in basal skin circulation in the breast.