Electrochemotherapy Treatment in a Patient with an Extended Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Face: A Case Report

Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are common human malignancies with a rising incidence in recent years. While BCCs have a low mortality rate, they are often associated with significant local skin damage characterized by erythema, skin ulceration, and persistent pigmentation. Surgery, radiotherapy, and s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personalized medicine 2024-09, Vol.14 (9), p.984
Main Authors: Russano, Francesco, Brugnolo, Davide, Bisetto, Giovanni, Del Fiore, Paolo, Rastrelli, Marco, Mocellin, Simone, Dall'Olmo, Luigi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Basal cell carcinoma
Biopsy
Cancer
Carcinoma
Case Report
Case reports
Cell membranes
Chemotherapy
Cytotoxicity
Disease control
Electrical stimuli
Electroconvulsive therapy
Erythema
Health aspects
Immunotherapy
Malignancy
Membrane permeability
Metastasis
Mortality
Patients
Permeability
Pigmentation
Quality of life
Radiation
Radiation therapy
Radiotherapy
Self image
Skin
Skin cancer
Sunburn & sun tanning
Surgery
Transplants & implants
Tumors
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Summary:Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are common human malignancies with a rising incidence in recent years. While BCCs have a low mortality rate, they are often associated with significant local skin damage characterized by erythema, skin ulceration, and persistent pigmentation. Surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy have traditionally been the principal treatments for these skin injuries. However, electrochemotherapy has recently been proposed as a novel local treatment with promising results for various skin cancers, including BCC, while avoiding the side effects of conventional therapies. ECT involves a local electrical stimulus that enhances cell membrane permeability, thereby enabling the targeted intracellular accumulation of the chemotherapeutic agent. We report a case of a 68-year-old man with an ulcerated BCC, following his progress up to 14 months post-ECT treatment, with positive outcomes. We achieved a complete clinical response and noted an improvement in the patient's quality of life. This technique is fast, repeatable, requires minimal hospitalization, and reduces healthcare costs and adverse effects compared to major surgery. Therefore, it can be considered an alternative or complementary approach to traditional surgery for treating BCC of the head and neck.
ISSN:2075-4426
2075-4426
DOI:10.3390/jpm14090984