Guidance

1 Recommendations

1 Recommendations

1.1

More research is needed on epidermal radiotherapy using rhenium‑188 paste for non-melanoma skin cancer.

1.2

This procedure should only be done as part of a formal research study and a research ethics committee needs to have approved its use.

1.3

More research is needed on:

  • 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.