title: Palliative radiotherapy for skin malignancies.
abstract: Palliative radiotherapy (PRT) improves patient quality of life (QoL) through alleviating cancer-associated symptoms such as pain, bleeding, and ulceration. Palliative management of patients with skin malignancies requires consideration of cosmetic and psychosocial outcomes as QoL measures. In this review, we highlight the current literature and advances in the use of PRT for patients with the three most commonly encountered forms of skin malignancies: basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma. The disease course and sensitivity to radiation varies, thus dictating the palliative goal and scheduling for PRT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Winston
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vuong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA. rwei@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Randy L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*
keywords: Palliative radiotherapy (PRT); basal cell; melanoma; skin cancer; squamous