Guidance
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued full guidance to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on electrochemotherapy for primary basal cell carcinoma and primary squamous cell carcinoma in February, 2014
This guidance updates and replaces NICE interventional procedure guidance 447 (March 2013).
Changes since first publication
Interventional procedure guidance 447 was reconsidered by the Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee after an internal procedural error was identified. As a result of this changes were made to sections 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 of the guidance and NICE consulted again on the revised document.
The changes made to the recommendations were:
1.1: References to patient selection and special arrangements for research were removed and a recommendation to submit data to a register added.
1.3: The following text was added: ‘Patient selection is particularly important because the cure rates for established treatments in accessible sites are very high.’
1.5: The following text was added: ‘Entry into research trials should also be considered, with a view to providing data about cure and about recurrence rates, compared with other forms of treatment.’
Some minor changes were also made to the rest of the document after consultation.
Description
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer in the UK. It is generally a slow-growing, locally invasive epidermal skin tumour that rarely spreads to other parts of the body. Although it is not usually life-threatening, the tumour can cause extensive tissue destruction if it is not treated. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common type of skin cancer in the UK. It may spread into local lymph nodes and metastasise to other parts of the body.
Current treatments for BCC and SCC include surgical excision and radiotherapy, and less commonly curettage, cryotherapy and chemotherapy.
Coding and clinical classification codes for this guidance.