Vascular based non conventional dye laser treatment for basal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin tumor in humans which can be removed in a variety of ways (depending on the type of the lesion, the affected area, and depth of the lesion). Laser therapy offers another option to the traditional methods of treatment; thus, the purpose of this work is to valuate the efficacy of dye laser in a selected group of patients affected by superficial basal cell carcinoma. We suggest that the success of pulse dye laser treatment lies in the fact that as all tumors, basal cell carcinomas contain an increased number of dilated blood vessels. Twenty patients (eight males and 12 females) with superficial basal cell carcinoma were given five treatments with a flashlamp-pumped pulse dye laser every 20 days. The clinical follow up was 12-24 months after the fifth treatment. A complete response was obtained in 16 patients out of 20. Three recurrences and one no response was observed during the study. Pulse dye laser is effective and safe in the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma.