PHILADELPHIA - Women undergoing daily radiation therapy for breast cancer are commonly told they should not use antiperspirant for fear that it could cause greater radiation damage to the skin, but a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that advice is not based on sound science. While they found that about eight out of every 10 patients reported their doctors told them not to use antiperspirants and roughly the same number of doctors say they routinely make that recommendation, their study also showed there was no difference in the radiation skin dose absorbed by these patients with or without these deodorants. They published their findings in Radiotherapy and Oncology this month.

"Going without antiperspirants entirely for a 3-6 week course of radiotherapy can have a negative impact on a patient's quality-of-life," said the study's lead author Brian C. Baumann, MD, who recently completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at Penn and is a member of Penn's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. He is also currently an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis. "Our study suggests that antiperspirants can be safely used during breast radiotherapy without risking increased skin side effects."

The study tackled two key areas. First, it established that it's still common practice for physicians to advise breast cancer patients to avoid antiperspirants during radiotherapy. Second, it debunked the myth that the use of these antiperspirants increases the amount of radiation the skin receives, thus causing more damage to the skin.
For the first part of the study, researchers utilized OncoLink, an online cancer service dedicated to patient and provider education that is run by Penn's Radiation Oncology unit. They developed a survey to find out what percentage of providers still tell their patients not to use antiperspirants, and what percentage of patients say they received that advice. Of the 105 doctors and nurses who responded and said they regularly manage radiation dermatitis for their patients, 86 of them (82 percent) said they regularly tell patients not to use antiperspirants during their course of radiation treatment. On the patient side, 92 women responded who said they have received radiotherapy for breast cancer, 73 of whom (79 percent) say their healthcare providers advised them to avoid using deodorant for the duration of their treatment.

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