SIAscopy and high frequency ultrasound for early non-invasive diagnostic of non-melanoma skin cancer

Abstract

Background. Spectrophotometric Intracutaneous Analysis (SIAscopy) is a non-invasive technique for the diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Its vascular features such as branched vessels, focal paleness and flare are indicators of NMSC diagnosis. Furthermore the vertical thickness of NMSC measured by high frequency ultrasound (US) is important for the planning of surgical and non-surgical treatment. Objective. To assess the diagnostic validity of SIAscopy and US in the detection of NMSC compared to the histopathologic results of the excised lesions. Methods. A prospective study was conducted on NMSC (n=30). SIAscope SimSys© (USA) and 22 MHz DUB - USB ultrasound system Taberna pro medicum© (Germany) were used to diagnose NMSC. The blood lacunas revealed in the SIAscans were classified regarding color intensity: light red, red and intensive red. The vertical tumor thickness was evaluated by US(T) and histologically (Breslow index, pT). All tumors were divided into two groups according to the pT (<1 and ≥ 1 mm). Results. 20 men and 7 women with the mean age 71 (SD: 11,42) and 70 (SD: 10.8) years were included. After pathological examination 18 superficial, 6 infiltrative, 1 pigmented basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and 2 actinic keratoses were diagnosed. The median of pT was 0.55 mm (range, 0.37 - 1.10) compared with 0.69 mm (range, 0.47-0.81) by 22 MHz US (r=0.68). The light red blood lacunas were found in thin NMSC (mean of pT - 0,42 mm, 95% Cl 0.29-0.55), red and intensive red in thicker NMSC, correspondingly mean of pT 0.88 (95% Cl 0.58-1.18) and 0.89 (95% Cl 0-1.81). Conclusion. Our results demonstrated that high frequency ultrasonic and spectrophotometric digital imaging are accurate non-invasive technologies to predict the thickness of NMSC. The algorithm of fused digital images of both technologies are future ariented system to improve early diagnostic of NMSC.