Introduction: Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC) is generally treated in dermatology offices using surgical techniques.Objectives: We evaluate the feasibility, tolerance, effectiveness and cosmesis using an office-based non-surgical modality for NMSC.Methods: 93 patients with 133 pathologically confirmed early stage invasive and in-situ NMSC lesions treated with Image-Guided Superficial Radiation Therapy (IGSRT) were retrospectively analyzed. All lesions received a median of twenty fractions of 50 or 70 kilovoltage(kV) IGSRT. Energy selection and subsequent kV changes were determined by ultrasound imaging. RTOG toxicity scoring was used. Treatment interruption was defined as greater than 2 weeks. Results: Median age was 69. At an average follow-up of 16.23 months, 92 of 93 patients were alive. One patient expired from unrelated causes while no evidence of disease (NED). 132 of 133 lesions achieved local control (LC) with one lesion recurring at 12.9 months. Absolute LC was 99.2%, overall Kaplan-Meier LC (KM LC) was 98.95% at 30.8 months, and Disease Free Survival (DFS) was 100%. Acute toxicities were mild with RTOG grades 0, 1 or 2 in all lesions with no grade 3 or 4 toxicity. Cosmesis was felt to be excellent or very good (VG) by the clinicians with no fair/poor cosmesis. There were no severe toxicities or complications requiring treatment interruptions.Conclusions: Office based IGSRT is feasible, safe, easily tolerable, and highly effective. Patients receiving IGSRT achieve excellent/VG cosmesis and welcome this nonsurgical option. IGSRT is an attractive non-invasive therapeutic option for NMSC and provides another valuable tool for dermatologists.

Background To compare the effectiveness of high-resolution dermal ultrasound (US) guided superficial radiotherapy (SRT) to non-image-guided radiotherapy in the treatment of early-stage Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (NMSC). Methods A high-resolution dermal ultrasound (US) image guided form of superficial radiation therapy (designated here as US-SRT) was developed in 2013 where the tumor configuration and depth can be visualized prior to, during, and subsequent to treatments, using a 22 megahertz (MHz) dermal ultrasound (US) with a doppler component. We previously published the results using this technology to treat 2917 early-stage epithelial cancers showing a high local control (LC) rate of 99.3%. We compared these results with similar American studies from a comprehensive literature search used in an article/guideline published by American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) on curative radiation treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and squamous cell carcinoma in-situ (SCCIS) lesions from 1988 to 2018. Only U.S. based studies with greater than 100 cases with similar patient/lesion characteristics and stages treated by external beam, electron, or superficial/orthovoltage radiation therapy were included in the criteria for selection. The resultant 4 studies had appropriate comparable cases identified and the data analyzed/calculated with regard to local control. Logistic regression analysis was performed comparing each study to US-SRT individually and collectively with stratification by histology (BCC, SCC, and SCCIS). Results US-SRT LC was found to be statistically superior to each of the 4 non-image-guided radiation therapy studies individually and collectively (as well as stratified by histology subtype) with p-values ranging from p < 0.0001 to p = 0.0438. Conclusions Results of US-SRT in local control were statistically significantly superior across the board versus non-image-guided radiation modalities in treatment of epithelial NMSC and should be considered a new gold standard for treatment of early-stage cutaneous BCC, SCC, and SCCIS.

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Background Interest in image-guidance superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT) for the treatment of early-stage non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has resurfaced given its low complication rates, superior cosmesis and local control and cure rates. In addition, it has been recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) for early-stage NMSC in patients who are considered poor surgical candidates. Methods 1899 NMSC lesions were treated with energies ranging from 50 to 100 kilovoltage (kV), for a mean of 20.2 fractions, and treatment dose of 5364.4 centigray (cGy). Lesions were treated for a mean of 7.5 weeks and followed for 65.5 weeks. SAS studio was used to conduct Kaplan–Meier analysis to calculate local control rates and account for differences in follow-up intervals. A log-rank test was used to calculate statistical differences between histologies. Results Absolute lesion control was achieved in 99.7% of the patients after an average of 7.5 weeks of treatment, with a stable control rate of 99.6% when the follow-up duration was over 12 months. 95% of lesions with toxicity scoring received a Radiation Treatment Oncology Group Toxicity (RTOG) score of 1 or 2. Conclusion IGSRT has a high safety profile, can achieve superior cosmesis and should be considered first-line for treating early-stage NMSC tumors as cure rates have been shown to be effective in all NMSC on early follow-up.

Background Various treatments exist for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), but the mainstay is surgical removal. Superficial radiotherapy (SRT) is one non-surgical technique that has been used for over a century but fell out of favor due to the advent of Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). A new technology that combines a 22 megahertz (MHz) dermal ultrasound with SRT (US-SRT) enables tumor visualization before, during, and after treatment, and demonstrates increased cure rates and reduced recurrences. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis comparing the local control (LC) of four studies using traditional non-image-guided forms of radiotherapy for NMSC treatment to two seminal studies utilizing high-resolution dermal ultrasound-guided SRT (HRUS-SRT). The four traditional radiotherapy studies were obtained from a comprehensive literature search used in an article published by the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) on curative radiation treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and squamous cell carcinoma in-situ (SCCIS) lesions. The meta-analysis employed a logit as the effect size indicator with Q-statistic to test the null hypothesis. Results LC rates for the 2 US-SRT studies were statistically superior to the 4 traditional therapies individually and collectively. When stratified by histology, statistically superior outcomes for US-SRT were observed in all subtypes with p-values ranging from p < 0.0001 to p = 0.0438. These results validated an earlier analysis using a logistic regression statistical method showing the same results. Conclusion US-SRT is statistically superior to non-image-guided radiotherapies for NMSC treatment. This modality may represent the future standard of non-surgical treatment for early-stage NMSC.