Dundar Y, et al. - This study was formulated in order to gauge the effectiveness and outcomes of adjuvant radiotherapy regimens for nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC) of the head and neck, particularly for elderly patients. In the case of patients with locally or regionally advanced head and neck NMSC, short-term radiotherapy regimens were discovered to be feasible and effective. This was particularly true for elderly individuals and for those who could not tolerate the length of standard regimens.

Methods

• The scheme of this research was a retrospective review study.
• Researchers examined patients with head and neck NMSC.
• Radiotherapy dose per fraction regimens included ≤200, 240-250, 300-400, and 500-600 cGy.
• A scrutiny was conducted of the demographics, tumor characteristics, local control (LC), regional control (RC), and survival outcomes.

Results

• Among the 90 patients with 140 disease sites, 76.6% were squamous cell carcinoma, 15.5% were basal cell carcinoma, and 7.7% were other histologies.
• It was reported that the mean age at diagnosis was 72.1 years old.
• Preauricular (20.0%) was discovered to be the most common location, followed by temple, scalp, cheek, and forehead.
• As per the outcomes, the overall LC and RC rates were 88.8% and 88.8%, respectively by patients, and 92.8% and 86.4%, respectively by treatment sites.
• Data unveiled that age, primary tumor location, T classification, N classification, overall stage, perineural invasion, comorbid disease, skull base invasion, and radiotherapy subgroup illustrated a prominent correlation with disease-free and overall survival (P < 0.05).
• No notable variation was reported between LC and RC among the radiotherapy dose subgroups.
• Findings revealed a longer mean survival in patients treated with 240-250 cGy/fraction (50.3 months).
• The subgroups did not demonstrate any prominent difference in radiotherapy toxicity.