The emerging role of field radiotherapy

In this short video, leading oncologist Associate Professor Sid Baxi talks about the emerging role of field radiotherapy for skin cancer and shares the results of a recent study led by Queensland researchers.

"[The research] shows that field radiotherapy has a place in looking after patients where the burden of disease is so high that standard conventional therapies are becoming ineffective or they're proving functionally or cosmetically difficult to manage.

"Field radiotherapy has been an emergent necessity in our community," says A/Prof Baxi.

"As our patients get older, [there is an increase in the] amount of skin cancerisation they have on their scalp, forehead, facial areas, arms and legs.

"Traditionally these areas are still looked after by surgery, cryotherapy, and topical therapies like Efudix to try and manage those clinical problems. And so field radiotherapy is a concept of treating an entire area that may have a significant burden of cancerous and precancerous changes.

"[A Queensland study] looked at 106 treatment areas where field radiotherapy has been utilised. That publication showed that the efficacy rate of controlling skin cancer burden was 90% higher. The patient acceptability was over 90%, and the specific skin cancers in the region had a response rate of 90%."

Watch all this and much more in the full video here:

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