Basal cell carcinoma in older adults: how to decide when active surveillance or watchful waiting is appropriate?

Coile, Laura Van; Ongenae, Katia; Brochez, Liève; Hoorens, Isabelle

doi:10.1111/bjd.21056

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…53 Recent studies proposed active surveillance protocols or watchful waiting for low risk BCCs in patients with limited life expectancy. [53][54][55] Active surveillance encompasses intensive follow-up visits in order to intervene with curative intent in case of cancer progression. On the contrary, a watchful-waiting approach implies a less aggressive, palliative treatment for symptomatic lesions and prevents patients from unnecessary routine consultations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the contrary, a watchful-waiting approach implies a less aggressive, palliative treatment for symptomatic lesions and prevents patients from unnecessary routine consultations. 54 Although a "conservative" approach should be always considered based on specific patient characteristics, it's imperative to guarantee a good quality of life regardless of patient's age. This is the case of ulcerated tumour or in case of painful lesions where a palliative if not radical treatment should be warranted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature data have highlighted the debate on whether it's appropriate to treat or not to treat elderly patients 53 . Recent studies proposed active surveillance protocols or watchful waiting for low risk BCCs in patients with limited life expectancy 53–55 . Active surveillance encompasses intensive follow‐up visits in order to intervene with curative intent in case of cancer progression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Active surveillance encompasses intensive follow‐up visits in order to intervene with curative intent in case of cancer progression. On the contrary, a watchful‐waiting approach implies a less aggressive, palliative treatment for symptomatic lesions and prevents patients from unnecessary routine consultations 54 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Characteristics and management of skin cancers in very elderly patients: A real‐world challenge for clinicians

Lai

Pampena

Mirra

et al. 2022

Experimental Dermatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Characteristics and management of skin cancers in very elderly patients: A real‐world challenge for clinicians

Lai

Pampena

Mirra

et al. 2022

Experimental Dermatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our group also pointed out the urgent need for this research in a recent perspective. 6 Consequently, the elderly are often overtreated or undertreated because of a lack of data on the biological tumour heterogeneity, the effectiveness of the treatment and the complication risks in this specific population. Several observational studies have shown that most non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) (69%) were treated with extensive surgery regardless of patients’ life expectancy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study protocol of the BASINEL Study: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial investigating treatment versus no treatment of low-risk basal cell carcinomas in older persons

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionBasal cell carcinomas (BCCs) represent 70% of all skin cancers. These tumours do not metastasise but are locally invasive if left untreated. There is a high incidence of BCC in the elderly, and clinicians frequently face important treatment dilemmas. The approach to BCC in the elderly should be investigated thoroughly.Methods and analysisData on health-related quality of life (HrQoL), survival and complication rate will be examined in a treatment and a non-treatment arm (1:1 allocation). In the non-treatment arm, in vivo biological behaviour of low-risk BCCs in elderly patients will be examined. The main objective is to combine tumour characteristics with demographic data, in order to determine whether treatment will positively affect the patients’ HrQoL within a predetermined time frame. A monocentric randomised controlled trial (RCT) was designed at the Ghent University Hospital. The study population consists of patients with the minimum age of 75 years and a new diagnosis of (a) low-risk BCC(s). Patients in the treatment arm will receive standard care. Patients in the non-treatment arm will be closely monitored: the tumour will be intensively evaluated using multispectral dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy and high-definition optical coherence tomography. All patients will be asked to fill in a questionnaire concerning their HrQoL at consecutive time points. Patient-reported side effects will be evaluated via an additional questionnaire.Primary outcomes will include the difference in HrQoL and the difference in complication risks (treatment vs non-treatment) at different time points of the study. Secondary endpoints are the evolution of the BCCs in the non-treatment arm and the long-term survival in both study arms. Tertiary endpoint is the treatment effectiveness in the treatment arm. The sample size calculation was performed and resulted in a target sample size of 272 patients in this study with a 1:1 allocation.Ethics and disseminationSubjects can withdraw from participating in this study at any time for any reason without any consequences. Approval for this study was received from the Ethics Committee of the Ghent University Hospital on 26 August 2021.The results of this RCT will be submitted for publication in one or more international, peer-reviewed medical journals, regardless of the nature of the study results.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05110924).

show abstract

The therapeutic dilemma of basal cell carcinoma in older adults: A review of the current literature.

Coile¹,

Ongenae²,

Destrooper³

et al. 2023

Journal of Geriatric Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Basal cell carcinoma in older adults: how to decide when active surveillance or watchful waiting is appropriate?

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Characteristics and management of skin cancers in very elderly patients: A real‐world challenge for clinicians

Characteristics and management of skin cancers in very elderly patients: A real‐world challenge for clinicians

Study protocol of the BASINEL Study: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial investigating treatment versus no treatment of low-risk basal cell carcinomas in older persons

The therapeutic dilemma of basal cell carcinoma in older adults: A review of the current literature.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About