title: Electron beam therapy is not inferior to superficial x-ray therapy in the treatment of skin carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare recurrence rates and cosmetic results after electron beam therapy vs. superficial x-ray therapy for nonmelanoma skin carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis was performed on 389 histologically confirmed basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin, treated with either superficial x-rays or electron beam therapy, with regard to local control rates and cosmetics, as scored with an arbitrary three-point scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall local recurrence rate was 4.9% (19 out of 389). For small tumors (irradiated surfaces < or = 10 cm2) a local recurrence rate of 2.2% was observed, both after electron beam therapy and after superficial x-ray therapy. Tumor size and previous treatment proved to be important prognostic factors with regard to control rate. The well-fractionated electron beam therapy yielded better cosmetic results than the large fraction superficial x-ray therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Electron beam treatment is not inferior to superficial x-ray treatment and even better for larger tumors. The inferior results of electron beam therapy reported in literature might be due to technical factors, which are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Griep
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davelaar
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Scholten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Leer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*