The paper, published by Baumann et al in JAMA Oncology, found that while 91% of clinicians surveyed said they advised patients to avoid these skin treatments and 83% of patients surveyed said they’d received this guidance from their doctors, testing showed there was no difference in the radiation skin dose with or without these creams.

Dosimetric measurements showed no difference in the delivered dose at either the surface or a 2-cm depth with or without a 1- to 2-mm application of either topical agent.