Irradiation induced blood flow changes in the breast during radiotherapy--a pilot study.

Skin blood flow and underskin temperature were measured in breasts during the complementary radiotherapy following lumpectomy, using the noninvasive transient thermal clearance method. On average, blood flow and tissue temperature increased at the start of the irradiation then slightly decreased. The response varied significantly among the patients. The increase in blood flow is associated with the vasodilatation which accompanies irradiation-induced inflammation and the method enables the assessment of this vasodilatation during the irradiation treatment. The decrease of blood flow after the initial increase is attributed to vascular damage. The method provides a noninvasive means for the evaluation of radiation effects on individual patients during radiotherapy.