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

Abstract

We have used a schedule for soft x-ray therapy of epithelial malignancies that takes into account the clinically diagnosed tumor involution under treatment. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of this schedule in terms of cure rate and late ulcerations. Patients with 1267 consecutively irradiated (1988-1992) basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas were followed up (average 77 months). 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. We have no evidence that our radiation schedule is superior to those published by other authors. These results verify the usefulness of soft x-ray therapy for cutaneous epithelial malignancies.