ArticleLasers in surgery and medicine2026
Reflectance Confocal Microscopy-Optical Coherence Tomography-Guided Laser Ablation of Low-Risk Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Long-Term Prospective Follow-Up Study.
Article in Lasers in surgery and medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe primary objective was to evaluate the long-term recurrence rate following RCM-OCT-guided laser ablation of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). The secondary objective was to assess patient-reported outcomes, including willingness to undergo the treatment again, scar acceptability, and adverse effects.
methodsA prospective cohort study evaluated 104 patients with 148 BCCs (2017-2021). Low risk BCC subtypes and with tumor depth of ≤ 300 µm were determined using RCM-OCT, and eligible lesions underwent same-day Er:YAG laser ablation with immediate post-treatment imaging to confirm clearance. Patients underwent clinical and RCM-OCT or RCM surveillance at 6 and 12 months and annually thereafter to assess recurrence. A patient-reported questionnaire was conducted in 2023.
resultsFifty-eight lesions (39.2%) in 39 patients met the criteria for laser ablation. Most lesions were located on the trunk (29/58, 50.0%), with median tumor depth and lesion size of 200 µm and 9.8 mm, respectively. Immediate post-ablation RCM-OCT demonstrated imaging-defined complete clearance after a single session in 53/58 lesions (91.4%). Residual tumors (5/58, 8.6%) were successfully treated during the same visit. Fifty-four of 58 lesions (93.1%) had at least 6 months of follow-up (median 32 months; min/max 8-70). One recurrence occurred at 53 months and was successfully retreated, corresponding to 1.04 recurrences per 100 person-years of follow-up. The patient-reported questionnaire response rate was 79.5% (31/39). Overall, 96.8% (30/31) reported acceptable scar appearance, 83.9% (26/31) were likely to choose laser ablation again (Score 1-2 of 5), and 9.7% (3/31) reported mild, transient side effects.
conclusionsRCM-OCT-guided Er:YAG laser ablation offers a "one-stop" treatment approach for selected low-risk BCCs, demonstrating low long-term recurrence rates and high patient satisfaction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.