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    The content on this page is not current guidance and is only for the purposes of the consultation process.

    Epidermal radiotherapy using rhenium-188 paste for non-melanoma skin cancer

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    1 Draft recommendations

    1.1 Epidermal radiotherapy using rhenium-188 paste for non-melanoma skin cancer should be used only in research. Find out what only in research means on the NICE interventional procedures guidance page.

    1.2 Further research should report:

    • details of patient selection

    • tumour histology

    • the site and size of the tumour

    • the dose and number of treatments

    • the treatment margin around the tumour

    • remission status

    • patient-reported outcome measures, including cosmetic outcomes

    • safety outcomes.

    Why the committee made these recommendations

    This procedure offers an additional non-surgical option for some people with non-melanoma skin cancer. The evidence shows there are no major safety concerns with this procedure and evidence on efficacy is promising. But, the evidence is limited because most of the studies are retrospective (a retrospective study looks back in time and assesses events that have already occurred), and are small, even though non-melanoma skin cancer is a common condition. Also, the calculation of how much rhenium-188 paste to use and the treatment margin around the tumour to use are not standardised for this procedure. It is also unclear how the procedure compares with other treatments. So, more research is needed.