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

Abstract

Background: We have used a schedule for soft x-ray therapy of epithelial malignancies that takes into account the clinically diagnosed tumor involution under treatment.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of this schedule in terms of cure rate and late ulcerations.

Methods: Patients with 1267 consecutively irradiated (1988-1992) basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas were followed up (average 77 months).

Results: The recurrence rate (5.1%) was related to tumor size and thickness and to the time-dose-fractionation factor. The frequency of ulcerations (6.3%) depended on field size, hardness of the x-rays, and in smaller fields (diameter up to 4 cm) on total dose, and time-dose-fractionation factor. Of all ulcerations, 82.5 % could be conservatively cured.

Limitations: We have no evidence that our radiation schedule is superior to those published by other authors.

Conclusion: These results verify the usefulness of soft x-ray therapy for cutaneous epithelial malignancies.