Dermatitis and alopecia

A fundamental shift in chemotherapeutic approach has occurred over the last several decades. A new class of so-called targeted agents, designed to target aberrant molecular pathways responsible for promoting carcinogenesis, was added to the arsenal of cytotoxic drugs that target rapidly proliferating tumor cells. These advances improved patient care and decreased morbidity and mortality. While systemic adverse events such as bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal toxicities have diminished with the use of targeted agents, the spectrum of dermatologic toxicities have expanded. Mechanisms underlying the development of such a variety of cutaneous adverse events remain to be elucidated, but a significant amount of data shedding light on potential pathophysiology has accumulated. This chapter will review these data.