THE ROLE OF SKIN HYGIENE IN THE PREVENTION OF INFECTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH WEAKENED IMMUNITY IN CANCER PATIENTS

Assessing the impact of special hygiene measures recommended for oncological patients undergoing chemotherapeutic therapy is an important area of preventive medicine, as complications of drug therapy such as dermatological reactions (skin toxicity) develop. This article is devoted to the study of the impact of hygiene measures aimed at preventing skin damage as complications of the use of chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer patients. A study was conducted among 60 patients who were treated in the department of antitumor drug therapy No. 1 of the Clinical Oncological Dispensary No. 1. of Krasnodar in the period from November 2024 to February 2025, who had manifestations of dermatological toxicity during chemotherapy (acne – like rash, maculopapular rash, xerosis, skin cracks, paronychia). The degree of skin toxicity was assessed according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events v5.0. In the group of patients who did not use preventive hygiene measures, skin lesions appeared more often and were more pronounced: grade 1 was observed in 18 patients (41.9%), grade 2 was detected in 20 patients (46.5%), and the most pronounced grade 3 was in 5 people (11.6%). The overwhelming majority of patients in the second group who followed the prophylaxis (n=12 – 70.6%) had grade 1 skin toxicity, 4 patients (23.5%) had grade 2, and only 1 (5.9%) had grade 3. The present study confirms the need for further study of the effects of therapeutic, preventive and hygienic skin care measures in cancer patients in order to develop optimal recommendations for their use.