Abstract
Basal cell carcinoma accounts for up to 80% of all non-melanoma skin cancers and is the most common cancer in the world. The primary aim of treatment for basal cell carcinomas is local control, as regional and distant spread is very rare. Although surgery remains the preferred modality for definitive treatment at most centers, radiotherapy is frequently considered for those patients who are medically inoperable and who have unresectable tumors or for those who decline surgery. Other relative indications for radiotherapy include cases where it would be difficult to achieve clear surgical margins and where surgery would result in unacceptable functional or cosmetic morbidity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Porceddu SV. Prognostic factors and the role of adjuvant radiation therapy in non-melanoma skin cancer of the head and neck. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2015;35:e513–8.
Cotran RS. Metastasizing basal cell carcinomas. Cancer. 1961;14:1036–40.
Lakshmipathi T, Hunt KM. Metastasizing basal-cell carcinoma. Br J Dermatol. 1967;79:267–70.
Scanlon EF, Volkmer DD, Oviedo MA, Khandekar JD, Victor TA. Metastatic basal cell carcinoma. J Surg Oncol. 1980;15:171–80.
Hall VL, Leppard BJ, McGill J, Kesseler ME, White JE, Goodwin P. Treatment of basal-cell carcinoma: comparison of radiotherapy and cryotherapy. Clin Radiol. 1986;37:33–4.
Avril MF, Auperin A, Margulis A, et al. Basal cell carcinoma of the face: surgery or radiotherapy? Results of a randomized study. Br J Cancer. 1997;76:100–6.
Abbatucci JS, Boulier N, Laforge T, Lozier JC. Radiation therapy of skin carcinomas: results of a hypofractionated irradiation schedule in 675 cases followed more than 2 years. Radiother Oncol. 1989;14:113–9.
Zagrodnik B, Kempf W, Seifert B, et al. Superficial radiotherapy for patients with basal cell carcinoma: recurrence rates, histologic subtypes, and expression of p53 and Bcl-2. Cancer. 2003;98:2708–14.
Kwan W, Wilson D, Moravan V. Radiotherapy for locally advanced basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2004;60:406–11.
van Hezewijk M, Creutzberg CL, Putter H, et al. Efficacy of a hypofractionated schedule in electron beam radiotherapy for epithelial skin cancer: analysis of 434 cases. Radiother Oncol. 2010;95:245–9.
Cognetta AB, Howard BM, Heaton HP, Stoddard ER, Hong HG, Green WH. Superficial x-ray in the treatment of basal and squamous cell carcinomas: a viable option in select patients. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2012;67:1235–41.
Krema H, Herrmann E, Albert-Green A, Payne D, Laperriere N, Chung C. Orthovoltage radiotherapy in the management of medial canthal basal cell carcinoma. Br J Ophthalmol. 2013;97:730–4.
Rishi A, Hui Huang S, O’Sullivan B, et al. Outcome following radiotherapy for head and neck basal cell carcinoma with ‘aggressive’ features. Oral Oncol. 2017;72:157–64.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ng, S.P., Phan, J., Fullen, D.K., Morrison, W.H., Gunn, G.B. (2020). Radiotherapy for Basal Cell Carcinoma. In: Migden, M., Chen, L., Silapunt, S. (eds) Basal Cell Carcinoma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26887-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26887-9_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26886-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26887-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)