Cryodestruction of recurrent malignant skin tumors of different localizations in polyclinics

Abstract

Introduction. Skin cancer is one of the most common types of malignant neoplasms in Russia. Radiation therapy, surgical intervention, and combined treatment are usually used for skin cancer. Unfortunately, the above methods are not always successful. The reason for the incomplete effect of surgical treatment may be insufficient radicalism of the intervention due to the doctor's desire to cause the least trauma to the surrounding healthy tissues in order to obtain a good cosmetic result. Selective destruction of tumor tissue in cryogenic exposure with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissues is accompanied by a hemostatic effect, which is especially important in the treatment of both primary and recurrent decaying tumor ulcers. Aim — to evaluate the effectiveness of cryodestruction as the method of choice in the outpatient treatment of recurrent skin cancer. Materials and methods. The study was controlled, non-randomized. The criterion for inclusion in the study was the establishment of the diagnosis of recurrent skin cancer at the application and subsequent treatment in the outpatient clinic of the State Budgetary Institution "Oncologic Dispensary" in Novocherkassk from 2016 to 2020. A total of 532 patients were studied. Patients were planned to undergo tumor cryodestruction with several freeze-thaw cycles, lasting 2-5 minutes. Results. The results of the study indicate high efficiency of cryodestruction. Complete recovery in the treatment of recurrent skin cancer was observed in 446 (83.4%) patients. Repeated cryodestruction was performed in 86 (16.6%) patients, who experienced continued growth and recurrence after cryodestruction within 1 to 18 months. Subsequently, 38 of 86 patients (7.2%) did not experience continuation of growth and new recurrences. Discussion. Based on the literature data and our treatment results it was determined that cryodestruction is the most acceptable and simple method of treatment for this category of patients. Conclusion. In the presence of limited recurrences of skin cancer of various localizations, cryogenic exposure is effective (in 90.6% of the outcome — recovery) in patients of different sex and age, regardless of the location and prevalence of the tumor process and is the method of choice of treatment in an outpatient setting.