Premium
Optical coherence tomography for diagnosis of BCC
Author(s) -
Reddy N.,
Nguyen B.T.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/bjd.17542
Subject(s) - optical coherence tomography , basal cell carcinoma , medicine , skin cancer , biopsy , incidence (geometry) , diagnostic accuracy , radiology , dermatology , cancer , optics , basal cell , pathology , physics
Summary Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer in the world. Its incidence in Europe has increased at an alarming rate of 5.5% per year over the past four decades. In the U.K., the incidence of BCC has risen at a rate six times higher than in the rest of Europe. The diagnosis of BCC typically requires a biopsy of the skin and careful analysis under a microscope. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging tool that uses light to visualize the layers underneath the skin surface in real‐time without the need to perform a skin biopsy. It has been proposed as a non‐invasive, alternative tool to diagnose BCC. This study, from the U.S., investigated current medical literature to comprehensively assess the accuracy of OCT technology in evaluating BCCs. The authors reviewed 901 BCCs collected from 31 studies that utilized OCT for diagnosing BCC. The authors found that OCT was able to diagnose BCC with a sensitivity of 89.3%, meaning that it correctly identified 9 out of 10 BCCs. Of the different types of OCT, the most advanced, Fourier‐Domain OCT, obtained the highest accuracy. OCT was able to detect features of BCC that are normally seen under the microscope in up to 80% of tumours. In addition, the authors noted that OCT was best at predicting the depth of shallow BCC tumors less than 1mm deep. Based on these results, the authors envision OCT to be a valuable, non‐invasive tool for diagnosing BCC.