Radiation Therapy for Skin Cancer

Photon Radiation Therapy for Skin Malignancies is a vital resource for dermatologists interested in radiation therapy, including the physics and biology behind treatment of skin cancers, as well as useful and pragmatic formulas and algorithms for evaluating and treating them. 

Dermatology has always been a field that overlaps multiple medical specialties and this book is no exception, with its focus on both dermatologists and radiation oncologists. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2020, the demand for radiation therapy will exceed the number of radiation oncologists practicing in the U.S. tenfold, which could profoundly affect the ability to provide patients with sufficient access to treatment. Photon Radiation Therapy for Skin Malignancies enhances the knowledge of dermatologists and radiation oncologists and presents them with the most up-to-date information regarding detection, delineation and depth determination of skin cancers, and appropriate biopsy techniques. In addition, the book also addresses radiation therapy of the skin and the skin’s reactions to radiation therapy.

Superficial radiation has been utilized by dermatologists for skin cancer and inflammatory diseases since the early 1900s. This textbook is the progeny of multiple previous editors from 1926 on dedicated to its safe and effective usage of radiation therapy.

The rapid advancements in the field of Radiation Oncology, including electron beam therapy and tomotherapy, alongside the introduction of corticosteroids for dermatologic disorders and advancement in cutaneous surgery, have until recently eclipsed the utilization of this safe and effective modality.

Dermatologists look to our Radiation Oncology colleagues for help with many complex cancer scenarios, such as deeply invasive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas with or without perineural invasion, Merkel Cell Carcinoma, various sarcomas, and certain melanomas ranging from lentigo maligna to metastatic melanoma. This textbook has a greatly expanded section that will serve as a vital reference for all cutaneous oncologists.