Therapy Basalioma

The therapy of a confirmed basal cell carcinoma diagnosis depends on the size, type and location of the tumor. One usually has the choice between surgery and radiotherapy. The excision of the tumour is mainly used for basal cell carcinoma of the face, or for repeated occurrence.

In medical terms, this is called “excision in healthy tissue”. This means that the tumour must be removed with a certain safety margin. An area of about 4 mm around the tumour, i.e. healthy tissue, is also removed.

This operation is of course performed under local anaesthetic by the dermatologist (doctor for dermatology). Irradiation of the tumour is used if the location of the tumour or the age of the patient does not allow surgery. For example, a critical location is close to the eye, as the organ could be damaged.

Especially superficial tumours that have not (yet) grown in depth can be treated in this way. A kind of icing (cryotherapy) can also be used here. The following other therapies are also used:

Laser surgery
Radiotherapy
Photodynamic Therapy
Local immunotherapy

The standard for the removal of the basal cell carcinoma, which is still valid today, is surgical therapy.

If a surgical removal is performed without any permanent remains of the tumour, the rate of new formation (recurrence) is the lowest. The surgical treatment is carried out by the dermatologist under local anaesthetic. The skin incision is made around the tumour with a safety margin of approximately 5 millimetres.

The edges of the removed piece of skin are then carefully examined under a microscope to ensure that all cancer cells have been removed. If there are still tumour cells in the edges, then in a second follow-up operation a little more skin around the area where the basal cell carcinoma was located must be removed. However, a new formation of the tumour can never be completely ruled out.

If, for example, the location of the tumour, particularly in the eye, or the age of the patient does not allow surgery for complete removal, then there are other therapeutic options that can be used. Radiation therapy, for example, is an alternative. High energy X-rays are used, which damage the cancer cells and cause them to die.

Similarly good healing rates can be achieved with this method and the result is better from a cosmetic point of view, as no skin parts are removed. However, radiotherapy is always associated with side effects. Recently, a special cream with the active ingredient Imiquimod can be used, which is applied to the basal cell carcinoma and stimulates the body’s own immune system to recognize and fight the cancer cell. Other alternatives are laser surgery or phototherapy. Here, the cancer cells are damaged by irradiation with a special light.