Tell people having radiotherapy that they can wash the treated skin and use deodorant

Washing. A 2023 systematic review found four randomised trials of washing during radiotherapy; two could be pooled, and washing with or without soap reduced severe radiation dermatitis (odds ratio 0.32, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.19 to 0.55) and moist desquamation (odds ratio 0.25, 0.12 to 0.52). Washing was associated with better quality of life in one trial, and the review's conclusion is that it "should be advocated as part of routine skin care during RT".

Deodorant. A meta-analysis of five randomised trials in breast radiotherapy found that antiperspirant or deodorant use did not change the incidence of grade 1 or worse dermatitis (odds ratio 0.81, 0.54 to 1.21), grade 2 or worse (0.90, 0.65 to 1.25) or grade 3 (0.54, 0.26 to 1.12), nor itching or pain, and concluded that the evidence does not support recommending against it. The same authors note that recommendations on deodorant "remain highly variable".

Why it is an upgrade. Both bans cost the patient something real, especially across three or five weeks of daily treatment in warm weather or at work, and neither protects the skin. Changing the advice sheet is the whole intervention. How many departments still advise against washing or deodorant is not measured by any survey OnCo found.