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DALLAS – One year after patients underwent treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) with the 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser, no recurrences have occurred, according to early results from a study being conducted at two centers.
“ Arisa E. Ortiz, MD, said at the annual conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. “Clearance rates are comparable to or better than other topical modalities such as electrodesiccation and curettage and topical imiquimod. It’s a reasonable alternative for treatment patients with multiple tumors or those who are poor surgical candidates.”
In an ongoing study, she and Mathew M. Avram, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Laser & Cosmetic Center, Boston, have treated 19 superficial, nodular, and pigmented BCC tumors in 11 patients 31-85 years of age. Tumor sizes ranged from 3 mm x 3 mm to 21 mm x 11 mm. Indications for laser treatment have included being a poor surgical candidate (one patient had a history of bleeding complications), having multiple tumors (one patient had Curry-Jones syndrome) – or simply wishing to not undergo surgery. “They didn’t want a surgical scar, or they didn’t want to limit their activity after surgery,” Dr. Ortiz said.
Patients underwent one 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser treatment. The anesthesia was 0.5% lidocaine with no epinephrine. Treatment settings were a 5-mm spot size delivered at a fluence of 140 J/cm2 in a pulse duration of 7-8 milliseconds. The number of pulses ranged from 14 to 36. The immediate endpoint was slight graying and slight contraction. “When you’re using the 1064-nm Nd:YAG for cosmetic purposes, you don’t want to see these endpoints, but we are treating skin cancer, so you do want to see some contraction and graying,” she said. The procedure was covered under insurance and billed as malignant destruction (CPT codes 17260-17266 and 17280-17283).
Dr. Ortiz reported that there have been no recurrences in the 11 patients at 1-year follow-up as determined by clinical observation. “There are many advantages to laser treatment of basal cell carcinoma,” she concluded. “There’s only one treatment visit, so you don’t have to come back for suture removal, and it’s a very quick treatment. There’s no significant downtime or limitation on activities, and there’s minimal wound care – just ointment and a Band-Aid – and relatively decreased risk for complications such as infection or bleeding, and minimal to no scar.”
“Laser surgery also provides precision that ordinary surgical techniques cannot match. Despite the obvious obstacles, there is no reason such surgical techniques cannot be expanded someday to other internal cutaneous tumors, including GI tumors. To some extent this is happening already. Vascular lasers are being used to treat a bleeding disorder of the colon known as angiodysplasia. Cautious exploration of laser- and light-based treatments should be further explored as a means of sparing tissue and surgical morbidity.”
Dr. Ortiz disclosed that she has received grant funding from Sienna and Revance, as well as equipment from BTL, Invasix, and Sciton. She has received consulting fees from Alastin, Merz, and Sciton; honoraria from Alastin, Cutera, Invasix, and Sciton; and she holds ownership interest with Allergan. She also has served on the advisory boards for Alastin, Allergan, Invasix, Rodan + Fields, Sciton, Sienna, and Merz.
Dr. Avram disclosed that he serves on the medical advisory board of Sciton and on the scientific advisory boards of Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Cytrellis, and Allergan. He is also a consultant for Merz Aesthetics, Allergan, Soliton, Invasix, and Revance and has intellectual property with Cytrellis. He also holds stock options with Cytrellis, Invasix, and Zalea.
DALLAS – One year after patients underwent treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) with the 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser, no recurrences have occurred, according to early results from a study being conducted at two centers.
“ Arisa E. Ortiz, MD, said at the annual conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. “Clearance rates are comparable to or better than other topical modalities such as electrodesiccation and curettage and topical imiquimod. It’s a reasonable alternative for treatment patients with multiple tumors or those who are poor surgical candidates.”
In an ongoing study, she and Mathew M. Avram, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Laser & Cosmetic Center, Boston, have treated 19 superficial, nodular, and pigmented BCC tumors in 11 patients 31-85 years of age. Tumor sizes ranged from 3 mm x 3 mm to 21 mm x 11 mm. Indications for laser treatment have included being a poor surgical candidate (one patient had a history of bleeding complications), having multiple tumors (one patient had Curry-Jones syndrome) – or simply wishing to not undergo surgery. “They didn’t want a surgical scar, or they didn’t want to limit their activity after surgery,” Dr. Ortiz said.
Patients underwent one 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser treatment. The anesthesia was 0.5% lidocaine with no epinephrine. Treatment settings were a 5-mm spot size delivered at a fluence of 140 J/cm2 in a pulse duration of 7-8 milliseconds. The number of pulses ranged from 14 to 36. The immediate endpoint was slight graying and slight contraction. “When you’re using the 1064-nm Nd:YAG for cosmetic purposes, you don’t want to see these endpoints, but we are treating skin cancer, so you do want to see some contraction and graying,” she said. The procedure was covered under insurance and billed as malignant destruction (CPT codes 17260-17266 and 17280-17283).
Dr. Ortiz reported that there have been no recurrences in the 11 patients at 1-year follow-up as determined by clinical observation. “There are many advantages to laser treatment of basal cell carcinoma,” she concluded. “There’s only one treatment visit, so you don’t have to come back for suture removal, and it’s a very quick treatment. There’s no significant downtime or limitation on activities, and there’s minimal wound care – just ointment and a Band-Aid – and relatively decreased risk for complications such as infection or bleeding, and minimal to no scar.”
“Laser surgery also provides precision that ordinary surgical techniques cannot match. Despite the obvious obstacles, there is no reason such surgical techniques cannot be expanded someday to other internal cutaneous tumors, including GI tumors. To some extent this is happening already. Vascular lasers are being used to treat a bleeding disorder of the colon known as angiodysplasia. Cautious exploration of laser- and light-based treatments should be further explored as a means of sparing tissue and surgical morbidity.”
Dr. Ortiz disclosed that she has received grant funding from Sienna and Revance, as well as equipment from BTL, Invasix, and Sciton. She has received consulting fees from Alastin, Merz, and Sciton; honoraria from Alastin, Cutera, Invasix, and Sciton; and she holds ownership interest with Allergan. She also has served on the advisory boards for Alastin, Allergan, Invasix, Rodan + Fields, Sciton, Sienna, and Merz.
Dr. Avram disclosed that he serves on the medical advisory board of Sciton and on the scientific advisory boards of Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Cytrellis, and Allergan. He is also a consultant for Merz Aesthetics, Allergan, Soliton, Invasix, and Revance and has intellectual property with Cytrellis. He also holds stock options with Cytrellis, Invasix, and Zalea.
DALLAS – One year after patients underwent treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) with the 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser, no recurrences have occurred, according to early results from a study being conducted at two centers.
“ Arisa E. Ortiz, MD, said at the annual conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. “Clearance rates are comparable to or better than other topical modalities such as electrodesiccation and curettage and topical imiquimod. It’s a reasonable alternative for treatment patients with multiple tumors or those who are poor surgical candidates.”
In an ongoing study, she and Mathew M. Avram, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Laser & Cosmetic Center, Boston, have treated 19 superficial, nodular, and pigmented BCC tumors in 11 patients 31-85 years of age. Tumor sizes ranged from 3 mm x 3 mm to 21 mm x 11 mm. Indications for laser treatment have included being a poor surgical candidate (one patient had a history of bleeding complications), having multiple tumors (one patient had Curry-Jones syndrome) – or simply wishing to not undergo surgery. “They didn’t want a surgical scar, or they didn’t want to limit their activity after surgery,” Dr. Ortiz said.
Patients underwent one 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser treatment. The anesthesia was 0.5% lidocaine with no epinephrine. Treatment settings were a 5-mm spot size delivered at a fluence of 140 J/cm2 in a pulse duration of 7-8 milliseconds. The number of pulses ranged from 14 to 36. The immediate endpoint was slight graying and slight contraction. “When you’re using the 1064-nm Nd:YAG for cosmetic purposes, you don’t want to see these endpoints, but we are treating skin cancer, so you do want to see some contraction and graying,” she said. The procedure was covered under insurance and billed as malignant destruction (CPT codes 17260-17266 and 17280-17283).
Dr. Ortiz reported that there have been no recurrences in the 11 patients at 1-year follow-up as determined by clinical observation. “There are many advantages to laser treatment of basal cell carcinoma,” she concluded. “There’s only one treatment visit, so you don’t have to come back for suture removal, and it’s a very quick treatment. There’s no significant downtime or limitation on activities, and there’s minimal wound care – just ointment and a Band-Aid – and relatively decreased risk for complications such as infection or bleeding, and minimal to no scar.”
“Laser surgery also provides precision that ordinary surgical techniques cannot match. Despite the obvious obstacles, there is no reason such surgical techniques cannot be expanded someday to other internal cutaneous tumors, including GI tumors. To some extent this is happening already. Vascular lasers are being used to treat a bleeding disorder of the colon known as angiodysplasia. Cautious exploration of laser- and light-based treatments should be further explored as a means of sparing tissue and surgical morbidity.”
Dr. Ortiz disclosed that she has received grant funding from Sienna and Revance, as well as equipment from BTL, Invasix, and Sciton. She has received consulting fees from Alastin, Merz, and Sciton; honoraria from Alastin, Cutera, Invasix, and Sciton; and she holds ownership interest with Allergan. She also has served on the advisory boards for Alastin, Allergan, Invasix, Rodan + Fields, Sciton, Sienna, and Merz.
Dr. Avram disclosed that he serves on the medical advisory board of Sciton and on the scientific advisory boards of Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Cytrellis, and Allergan. He is also a consultant for Merz Aesthetics, Allergan, Soliton, Invasix, and Revance and has intellectual property with Cytrellis. He also holds stock options with Cytrellis, Invasix, and Zalea.
REPORTING FROM ASLMS 2018
Key clinical point: Clinicians can noninvasively treat certain basal cell carcinoma tumor subtypes with the 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser.
Major finding: After 1 year of follow-up, no recurrences of basal cell carcinoma have occurred.
Study details: A 1-year follow-up study of 19 BCC tumors in 11 patients 31 to 85 years of age who were treated with the 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser.
Disclosures: Dr. Ortiz disclosed that she has received grant funding from Sienna and Revance, as well as equipment from BTL, Invasix, and Sciton. She has received consulting fees from Alastin, Merz, and Sciton; honoraria from Alastin, Cutera, Invasix, and Sciton; and she holds ownership interest with Allergan. She also has served on the advisory boards for Alastin, Allergan, Invasix, Rodan + Fields, Sciton, Sienna, and Merz.
Dr. Avram disclosed that he serves on the medical advisory board of Sciton and on the scientific advisory boards of Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Cytrellis, and Allergan. He is also a consultant for Merz Aesthetics, Allergan, Soliton, Invasix, and Revance and has intellectual property with Cytrellis. He also holds stock options with Cytrellis, Invasix, and Zalea.
