Preventive skin nursing relieves cetuximab-induced acne-like rashes

Objective To study whether preventive skin nursing can relieve cetuximab-induced acne rashes. Methods Ninety-six patients with advanced cancer who were treated with cetuximab in our department from January 2009 to December 2010 were randomly divided into control group and intervention group.Patients in control group received general nursing while those in intervention group received preventive skin nursing.Severity of rashes was compared between the two groups. Results The severity of rashes was lower in intervention group than in control group（stage Ⅲ toxicity:6.67% vs 22.22%,P＜0.05） and the occurrence time of rashes was later in intervention group than in control group（（16.09±5.04） days vs（10.13±2.97） days,P＜0.05）.However,no significant difference was observed in the incidence and persistent time of rashes between the two groups(（76.67% vs 83.33%,（34.35± 3.19） days vs（36.47±4.52） days,P＞0.05）. Conclusion Preventive skin nursing can relieve cetuximab-induced rashes.