Addressing the Challenges and Options to Treat Basal Cell Carcinoma

In a recent Dermatology Times® Frontline Forum® custom video program titled “New Directions in the Management of Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC),” dermatology providers discussed advances in the management of basal cell carcinoma, including the approval ofcemiplimab and the challenges of treating BCC.

Neal Bhatia, MD, and Aaron Farberg, MD, discuss the recent approval of cemiplimab for the management of BCC.

Doctors also talked about the need for a team-based approach when managing complex cases. Here are a few episodes you don’t want to miss.

Clinical Utilization of Cemiplimab and Future Directions

In this episode, dermatologists Neal Bhatia, MD, board certified dermatologist, Therapeutics Dermatology, San Diego, California, and Aaron Farberg, MD, double board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, Bare Dermatology, Dallas, Texas, discuss the recent approval of cemiplimab for the management of BCC. Although cemiplimab has been used for the management of SCC, the recent approval of cemiplimab to treat BCC offers an alternative that will benefit many patients and may result in better outcomes.

Not all patients want to have surgery and with medication resolving some issues, it gives individuals a choice in the treatment of their disease.

The doctors emphasize that it is critical to be able to treat and maintain patients within the field of dermatology and that dermatologists must continue to show their value within the field of medicine.

Basal Cell Carcinoma Management Challenges

Dermatologist John Strasswimmer, MD, PhD, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, discusses challenges facing physicians in treating BCC. In conversations with other physicians at the Winter Clinical Conference, Strasswimmer and others identified some of the challenges, including seeing more cases of BCC and the increase in cases in both younger and older individuals.

They also discussed the need for a team-based approach to managing many cases of BCC.

Expert Perspectives on the Role of Interdisciplinary Care in BCC

In this episode, Laura Ferris, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Andrew Weinstein, MD, FAAD, Boynton Beach Skin, Boynton Beach, Florida, discuss the importance of interdisciplinary care in cases of advanced basal cell carcinoma (aBCC).

Ferris highlights circumstances when non-surgical management of BCC is preferable to surgery as well as treatment options such as hedgehog inhibitors, oral therapies, and immunotherapy. Weinstein discusses situations that are appropriate for involving medical oncologists.

Click here for the full series.

Reference

Bhatia N, Farberg A, Strasswimmer J, Ferris L, and Weinstein A. New Directions in the Management of Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). Dermatology Times. April 14, 2023. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.dermatologytimes.com/frontline-forum/new-directions-in-the-management-of-basal-cell-carcinoma-bcc