Intraoperative Photodynamic Therapy: A Description of a New Adjuvant Technique for Patients with Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

Patients undergoing Mohs surgery for the clearance of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) could benefit from a combination therapy of Mohs and intraoperative photodynamic therapy (PDT) to reduce the risk of tumor recurrence and development of new adjacent tumors. Approximately 80 patients have received this new adjuvant treatment in our practice in the past 2 years. Based on our experience, intraoperative PDT seems to be well tolerated, does not impair wound healing, and may impart a lower risk of recurrence. This new combination therapy may help to lower recurrences of basal (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) while also treating small neoplasms that are not clinically evident to avoid future surgeries. Although our study is still ongoing, it is our goal to determine whether this modality may serve as an effective adjunct to Mohs surgery in patients with prominent sun damage and extensive NMSC lesions. We present herein a brief description of our technique.