Skin Cancer 2019: Electrochemotherapy for Periocular Basal Cell Carcinoma
Posted: Friday, April 12, 2019
Based on recent findings by Erika Gabriella Kis, MD, PhD, and colleagues, of the University of Szeged, Hungary, electrochemotherapy may prove to be an excellent treatment option for patients with periocular skin cancer. A relatively new treatment modality, electrochemotherapy involves electroporation combined with injection of a chemotherapy agent, typically at a lower than standard dose. Its use may be preferred in the treatment of certain tumors for which issues of accessibility preclude simple surgery. The results were presented at the 2019 World Congress on Advanced Treatments and Technologies in Skin Cancer (Skin Cancer 2019) in Vienna (Poster 6).
“[Electrochemotherapy] can be used effectively in the treatment of locally advanced or recurrent basal cell carcinomas in the eyelid-periocular region. Excellent tumor control can be achieved with good functional and cosmetic results without systemic side effects,” the authors concluded.
In total, 13 patients with periocular basal cell carcinoma were treated with bleomycin-based electrochemotherapy. Of them, 10 patients had recurrent tumors (8 of which had tumors elsewhere), and 3 had primary tumors. Bleomycin administration was intratumoral for 3 patients and intravenous for 10 patients. Treatments were performed according to guidelines set forth by the European Standard Operating Procedures of Electrochemotherapy, and tumor responses were evaluated using the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version1.1. The median follow-up was 12 months.
A complete response was achieved in all 13 cases of periocular localization. In one patient, a partial response was achieved for a tumor located on the nose. Ectropion occurred in the lower eyelid of three patients, necessitating surgical correction.
