Skin telangiectasia: the influence of radiation dose delivery parameters in the conservative management of early breast cancer.

A retrospective analysis was performed to study the occurrence of skin telangiectasia in patients with conservatively treated early breast cancer who were given postoperative radiotherapy that included an electron boost. Patients managed in two different centres were treated with identical techniques but different schedules of radiotherapy. Electron boost site telangiectasia was less common in those patients treated at the centre that employed higher doses, longer schedules and lower fraction sizes of both photons and electrons. These results require prospective confirmation but they suggest that schedules of radiotherapy employing lower fraction sizes, longer treatment times and higher total doses may minimize the incidence of skin telangiectasia.