Image-guided superficial radiation therapy (IGSRT or Image-Guided SRT) keeps nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) recurrences at bay, according to new research.
For the large retrospective cohort study, researchers culled treatment records for nearly 20,000 NMSC lesions from 28 institutions in 12 states from 2016 to 2023. They found freedom from recurrence rates of 99.68% at two years, 99.57% at four years, and 99.57% at six years. In addition, freedom from recurrence did not vary by patient age (<65 years or ≥65 years) even when stratifying by sex.
The study is published in Geriatrics.
“This lack of difference in recurrence rates was consistent across stages in younger patients, while older patients did demonstrate a significant difference in recurrence when stratified by stage with slightly poorer outcomes seen in patients with stage 2 NMSC,” the study authors conclude. “These findings demonstrate that IGSRT is a viable therapeutic option for patients with NMSC regardless of patient age, sex, or stage, and bolster previous findings that IGSRT demonstrates excellent local tumor control and absolute lesion control and superior recurrence rates in this cohort relative to traditional SRT and historical rates of [Mohs micrographic surgery].”
The Dermatology Association of Radiation Therapy (DART) President and Chairman Jacob Scott, MD, DPhil, DABR, a radiation oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH, adds, “This research, viewed in combination with previous studies indicating the superiority of Image-Guided SRT over SRT, reinforces the evidence that Image-Guided SRT demonstrates an excellent safety profile with predictable outcomes, making it an excellent first-line treatment alternative for patients diagnosed with early-stage NMSCs.” DART commissioned the new study.
For early-stage NMSCs, image-Guided SRT is a clinically equivalent alternative to Mohs surgery and has demonstrated statistically significant superiority over non-image-guided SRT. Image-Guided SRT is a treatment option for patients with low-or high-risk, early-stage NMSC who prefer to avoid surgery or are poor surgical candidates.
