Electrochemotherapy with bleomycin for basal cell carcinomas: a systematic review

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Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of cancer and an increasing incidence stimulates the interest in new treatments such as electrochemotherapy (ECT) with bleomycin. This systematic review focuses on literature from the MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases. Bleomycin-ECT studies (n = 32) were sorted by the level of evidence adjusted for their BCC data only. The studies included a single randomised controlled trial (RCT), 15 uncontrolled clinical trials, three registry studies, six prospective case series and seven retrospective case series. A Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment of the RCT identified some minor concerns but no predicted risk of bias. The studies were also grouped by bleomycin administration routes: intravenous (n = 14), intralesional (n = 9) and mixed reporting/usage (n = 9). A meta-analysis was not conducted due to the lack of RCTs and the heterogeneity of the included studies. The results of the RCT generally reflected the findings of the other included studies and showed a 92% complete response in 65 bleomycin-ECT–treated BCCs after 2 months, improving to 100% after re-treatment, with a low risk of recurrence. Based on the RCT results and overall data, future studies on BCC treatment with bleomycin-ECT should include large RCTs that compare bleomycin-ECT with standard of care, cost analyses, and clinical feasibility.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
Volume35
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)2208-2215
Number of pages8
ISSN0926-9959
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

    Research areas

  • basal cell carcinoma, bleomycin, electrochemotherapy

ID: 302046163