WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17, 2024 -- For patients with nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), hypofractionated superficial X-ray therapy (SXRT), administered at an average dose of 35.7 Gy over 5.47 fractions, yields tumor recurrence rates of up to 10.5 percent at 10 years, according to a research letter published online Jan. 12 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Alexzandra Mattia, from the Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee, and colleagues evaluated the use of hypofractionated SXRT in the management of nonaggressive NMSCs in a single-institution 22-year retrospective analysis of 2,490 biopsy-proven NMSCs from 1,082 elderly patients treated between Jan. 1, 2000, and June 1, 2022.

The researchers found that during a span of 22 years, the two-, five-, and 10-year tumor recurrence rates were 2.2, 6.0, and 10.5 percent, respectively. The average dose administered was 35.7 Gy over 5.47 fractions; most of the treatment protocols used 40 to 45 Gy over 10 to 15 fractions.

"Our study highlights the utility of hypofractionated SXRT as a well-tolerated and less expensive treatment alternative for select NMSCs in nonsurgical patients," the authors write.