TY - JOUR
T1 - The pulsed dye laser for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma
AU - Ballard, Christopher J.
AU - Rivas, Maria P.
AU - McLeod, Michael Patrick
AU - Choudhary, Sonal
AU - Elgart, George W.
AU - Nouri, Keyvan
PY - 2011/9/1
Y1 - 2011/9/1
N2 - Basal cell carcinomas (BCC) have a specialized microvasculature system that can be targeted by the 585-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) utilizing the theory of selective photothermolysis. Seven volunteers with nine well-defined, biopsy-proven BCCs, were treated with the PDL (585-nm wavelength, a single 450-μs pulse, 7-mm spot size, and 9.0 J/cm 2 energy). The lesions, along with a 4-mm border of normal skin were treated. Pain assessment was carried out immediately after the laser treatment. A deep shave biopsy with histological examination occurred 4 weeks after the laser treatment. Pain was assessed on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain possible). The average patient score was 2.1 (range 1-4). On histology, 5/9 (55.6%) sites demonstrated no evidence of BCC; however, 4/9 (44.4%) sites showed residual BCC. Although the PDL was able to clear over half of the BCCs in this study, there was an unacceptably high persistence rate of 44.4%. The PDL did not achieve the clearance rate that can be attained with current standard BCC treatment modalities. At this time, we do not recommend that a single treatment with the 585-nm PDL can be used as a primary therapy for BCC.
AB - Basal cell carcinomas (BCC) have a specialized microvasculature system that can be targeted by the 585-nm pulsed dye laser (PDL) utilizing the theory of selective photothermolysis. Seven volunteers with nine well-defined, biopsy-proven BCCs, were treated with the PDL (585-nm wavelength, a single 450-μs pulse, 7-mm spot size, and 9.0 J/cm 2 energy). The lesions, along with a 4-mm border of normal skin were treated. Pain assessment was carried out immediately after the laser treatment. A deep shave biopsy with histological examination occurred 4 weeks after the laser treatment. Pain was assessed on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain possible). The average patient score was 2.1 (range 1-4). On histology, 5/9 (55.6%) sites demonstrated no evidence of BCC; however, 4/9 (44.4%) sites showed residual BCC. Although the PDL was able to clear over half of the BCCs in this study, there was an unacceptably high persistence rate of 44.4%. The PDL did not achieve the clearance rate that can be attained with current standard BCC treatment modalities. At this time, we do not recommend that a single treatment with the 585-nm PDL can be used as a primary therapy for BCC.
KW - 585-nm pulse dye laser
KW - Basal cell carcinoma
KW - Pulse dye laser
KW - Superficial basal cell carcinoma
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U2 - 10.1007/s10103-011-0952-8
DO - 10.1007/s10103-011-0952-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 21748324
AN - SCOPUS:80051589174
VL - 26
SP - 641
EP - 644
JO - Lasers in Medical Science
JF - Lasers in Medical Science
SN - 0268-8921
IS - 5
ER -