Soft x-ray therapy for cutaneous basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiotherapy
• Dermatology

Background:

• A specialized soft x-ray therapy schedule was developed for epithelial malignancies.
• This schedule accounts for tumor involution observed during treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of the soft x-ray therapy schedule.
• To evaluate cure rates and the incidence of late ulcerations.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of 1267 patients with basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas treated between 1988-1992.
• Average follow-up period of 77 months.

Main Results:

• Recurrence rate was 5.1%, influenced by tumor size, thickness, and time-dose-fractionation.
• Ulceration frequency was 6.3%, dependent on field size, x-ray hardness, total dose, and time-dose-fractionation.
• 82.5% of ulcerations were successfully treated conservatively.

Conclusions:

• The radiation schedule's effectiveness is comparable to existing published methods.
• Soft x-ray therapy is a valuable treatment modality for cutaneous epithelial malignancies.