Non-melanoma Skin Cancer

Abstract

Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) comprised of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are the most common human cancers [14,24,25]. The annual incidence of NMSC is rapidly increasing, with an average increase between 3% and 6% per year in most populations, and has been reported to be almost 1000 per 100000 people in Australia [1, 14, 24]. An estimated 2750000 new cases of NMSC occurred worldwide in 1985. It is also estimated that there were 1200000 cases of BCC in the United States in 1995 [1, 15]. BCC is by far the most common skin malignancy throughout the world, accounting for about 75% of NMSC [15, 24] Given that the incidence of NMSC continues to increase yearly, the dermatologist will diagnose and treat an increasing number of patients with skin cancer. The majority of BCC begin as small lesions typically less than 1 cm in diameter that can be successfully treated in a variety of ways [15,26]. Treatment goals focus on complete tumor removal and minimization of cosmetic and functional defects. Effective methods of treatment include excisional surgery, curettage and electrodesiccation, cryosurgery, radiotherapy, and Mohs’ micrographic surgery [15]. However, many BCC may present considerable therapeutic difficulties because of the location of the tumor, its size, and the age of the patient. Large and recurrent tumors, in particular, usually require extensive resection with rotation of tissue or free or composite grafts. Recently, results from several clinical trials have shown that intralesional interferon (IFN) is an effective treatment modality for BCC [4, 8, 9, 11, 22].