Skin Discoloration

Your skin may change color during breast cancer treatment, sometimes taking on a red color, turning darker, or looking black, blue, green, or yellow (as if you have a bruise).

Breast cancer treatments that may cause skin discoloration:

• surgery
• Ixempra (chemical name: ixabepilone), a chemotherapy medicine
• radiation therapy

Some pain medications also may affect the color of your skin.

Skin discoloration also can happen if you're experiencing other treatment side effects such as a rash or an injection reaction.

Learn more about managing radiation-related skin side effects in the Radiation Therapy section.

Managing skin discoloration

In most cases, skin discoloration fades after you finish treatment. If you're concerned about a change in the color of your skin, talk to your doctor.