Chronic Radiation Dermatitis After Breast Cancer Radiotherapy: Mechanistic Insights, Therapeutic Challenges, and Emerging Roles of Piezo1-Mediated Mechanotransduction

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Chronic radiation dermatitis (CRD) is a common late complication of postoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer. Its pathological process involves multiple interrelated factors, including persistent inflammation, microvascular injury, fibrosis, and tissue remodeling, and may substantially impair patients' quality of life. Current clinical management remains largely symptomatic, including topical therapies, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, laser treatment, and fat grafting; however, overall therapeutic efficacy remains limited, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms of CRD have not yet been fully elucidated. Objective This review aims to integrate the major pathological mechanisms underlying CRD after breast cancer surgery and the limitations of current therapeutic strategies, and to propose a mechanistic explanatory framework from the perspective of mechanotransduction, with the goal of exploring potential reasons for the limited efficacy of existing treatments. Methods By reviewing the relevant literature, this article systematically integrates key pathological processes involved in CRD, including inflammatory responses, vascular dysfunction, and fibrotic remodeling, and further interprets these processes in light of recent advances in the mechanical microenvironment and mechanotransduction. Results Current evidence indicates that the development and progression of CR

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.