Efficacy of Superficial Radiotherapy

Dermatologists have been utilizing cathode tube-induced radiation in the treatment of skin cancers for over a century. In the early decades, the recurrence rates were high while the long-term sequelae were unfavorable. With more consistent and reliable tubes and a better understanding of dosimetry, cure rates have steadily improved over the decades while late side effects have lessened allowing an overall improved degree of cure and cosmesis. The following reported cure rates and cosmesis results are from the larger studies in the last several decades.