Recent research indicates that non-ablative fractional treatment of basal and squamous skin cancers significantly reduced the risk of cancer recurrence in patients. Dr. The director of Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center in Massachusetts, Dr. Mathew Avram has said that it is not known why this positive outcome occurred. He said that it is important to return to the laboratories to find out the reason for this positive result. Theories abound about whether such treatment changes the immune system or causes skin to change.
Dr. Matthew has also highlighted that fractional Lasers usually treat only a portion of the skin and leave a significant amount untreated. The benefits of such a treatment on the skin are simply too great to ignore. The types of skin cancers can vary, but basal and Squamous are the two most common. These types of cancers can be cured if detected early.
What happens when someone uses cosmetic laser treatment for skin cancer?
Research shows that patients with a history of basal or Squamous Cell Cancer have a 35% chance of recurrence in three years, and a 50% chance of recurrence in five years. 43 of these patients received laser treatment, and 52 did not.
After a number of follow-ups lasting more than six year, 21% developed new cancerous cells in patients who had received laser treatment. In contrast, 40 percent of those who were not treated with laser treatments developed new cancers. Dr. Avram, despite these findings, was of the opposite opinion and believed that patients with cell cancers should receive cosmetic laser treatment. Dr. Avram noted that, although he doesn’t recommend this procedure, it is good to know cosmetic laser treatment has many benefits. The most important of which is the reduced incidence of cancer cells.
Squamous-cell skin cancer, also known as “Squamous-Cell Carcinoma”, is a type of skin cancer that occurs in the squamous-cells. These cells make up the outer and middle layers of skin. This type of cancerous cell is not fatal, but skin cancer can be quite aggressive. This type of cancer begins in the basal skin cells. It can appear as a bump or lump on the surface of the skin.
The study concluded that cosmetic laser treatments can reduce skin cancers by a significant amount.