Open AccessTen‐year experience of carbon dioxide laser ablation as treatment for cutaneous recurrence of malignant melanoma
Author(s) -
Gibson S. C.,
Byrne D. S.,
McKay A. J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
british journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.202
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1365-2168
pISSN - 0007-1323
DOI - 10.1002/bjs.4558
Subject(s) - medicine , carbon dioxide laser , ablation , surgery , melanoma , laser ablation , laser surgery , laser , physics , cancer research , optics
Background: Cutaneous recurrence of malignant melanoma is distressing for the patient, can be difficult to palliate and is resistant to treatment by conventional methods. Experience with carbon dioxide laser ablation was reviewed to determine the initial efficacy, time to recurrence, number of treatments required and length of palliation achieved. Methods: Using a departmental database and case notes, a review was carried out of all patients undergoing laser ablation in the authors' unit between September 1992 August 2002. Results: Forty‐two patients received 105 (mean 2·5) treatments. The median time to recurrence was 5·2 (range 1·2–72·0) months. Twenty‐three patients were still alive, with a median time from first laser ablation of 5·4 (range 0·5–10·0) years. Nineteen patients had died, a median of 0·8 (range 0·1–5·3) years after the first ablation. Ten of the 23 patients were disease‐free for more than 1 year. No limbs were amputated because of failure to control disease. Conclusion: Laser ablation is a practical and useful method of palliating recurrent cutaneous malignant melanoma. Copyright © 2004 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.