TREATMENT OUTCOME IN CUTANEOUS BASAL AND SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMAS

Objective-To analyze retrospectively the outcome in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of skin, at our institute. Materials and methods-A total of 168 patients had reported with primary skin malignancies to our institute from 2005 to 2008. Of these, 40 patients (23.8) had BCC and 77 (45.8) had SCC. The predominant age group was fifth decade for both malignancies. While BCC had equal incidence in either sex, SCC was predominantly seen in males. Radiotherapy was the predominant treatment modality for patients with BCC, 20 patients treated with radiotherapy, 16 with wide excision and 4 with excision followed by radiotherapy. For squamous cell carcinoma, wide excision was done in 41 patients, amputation in 21 patients, radiotherapy in 9 patients and excision followed by radiotherapy in 6 patients. Radiotherapy was given mainly with 4 and 9 MeV electrons. All patients were followed up to November 2009. Results-All patients with basal cell carcinoma are currently disease free. All patients with squamous cell carcinoma who received radiotherapy, either alone or following wide excision are disease free. 39 out of 41 patients treated by wide local excision and 17 out of 21 amputated patients are disease free. One patient died due to non-malignant cause and the remaining due to disease. There was no significant difference in survival on comparing both groups.Conclusion - Radiotherapy is quite effective in the management of cutaneous BCC and SCC.