Condition

Non-melanoma skin cancer (squamous-cell carcinoma)

Clinical trials and treatment information for Non-melanoma skin cancer (squamous-cell carcinoma)

2.3M

People Affected

200

Active Trials

683K

New Cases/Year

57K

Deaths/Year

Treatment Rankings

Ranked by evidence volume first. Medicine has spent centuries ranking things by vibes. This is an improvement.

Mohs Micrographic Surgery

98% Effectiveness• 95% Confidence• 75% Safety• 4 trials• 150K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent Value

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

immediate

Duration

Single procedure

Response Rate

98%

Remission Rate

98%

Common Side Effects:

Pain: 30%

Swelling/Bruising: 40%

Infection: 3%

Scarring: 100%

Nerve damage (temporary/permanent): 2%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

Monitoring

$400

Side Effects

$100

Total Annual

$3,500

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

ICER

$30,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$3,571

Cost per Responder

$3,571

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

5-year Local Recurrence Rate8% (for high-risk SCC treated with conventional excision)

-75% (-6 percentage points)

Immediate Histologic Clearance Rate (after final Mohs stage)90% (for single conventional excision of SCC)

+11.1% (+10 percentage points)

Patient-Reported Cosmetic Outcome (VAS scale 0-100)70/100 (for conventional wide local excision)

+28.6% (+20 points)

Secondary Benefits

Post-operative Pain (VAS scale 0-10)6/10 (for larger conventional excisions)

-50% (-3 points)

Functional Impairment (e.g., related to eye, nose, mouth; scale 0-100, 0=no impairment)25/100 (for conventional excision in sensitive areas)

-60% (-15 points)

Time to Complete Wound Healing28 days (for conventional excision requiring secondary intention or complex repair)

-25% (-7 days)

Common Side Effects

Pain

+30%

Swelling/Bruising

+40%

Infection

+3%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Surgical Excision

92% Effectiveness• 95% Confidence• 72% Safety• 7 trials• 100K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent Value

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

immediate

Duration

Single procedure

Response Rate

92%

Remission Rate

92%

Common Side Effects:

Pain: 30%

Swelling/Bruising: 40%

Infection: 4%

Scarring: 100%

Nerve damage: 3%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

Monitoring

$400

Side Effects

$100

Total Annual

$2,500

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.9

ICER

$25,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$2,717

Cost per Responder

$2,717

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

5-Year Local Recurrence Rate15%

-80% (-12%)

Risk of Positive Surgical Margins20%

-75% (-15%)

5-Year Regional/Distant Metastasis Rate8%

-87.5% (-7%)

5-Year Overall Survival Rate70%

+31.4% (+22%)

Secondary Benefits

Skin Cancer-Specific Quality of Life (Symptoms subscale)Skindex-29 (Symptoms): 40/100

-75% (-30 points)

Functional Impairment (due to lesion location)Functional Impairment Scale: 7/10

-71.4% (-5 points)

Pain/Discomfort Level (NRS)NRS Pain Scale: 5/10

-90% (-4.5 points)

Common Side Effects

Pain

+30%

Swelling/Bruising

+40%

Infection

+4%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Radiation Therapy

90% Effectiveness• 90% Confidence• 25% Safety• 30 trials• 50K participants

HIGH EvidenceGood ValueDose: 60-70 Gy in 30-35 fractions

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

4-8 weeks

Duration

3-7 weeks

Response Rate

92%

Remission Rate

92%

Common Side Effects:

Skin redness/irritation (radiation dermatitis): 90%

Fatigue: 60%

Pain/soreness: 40%

Hair loss (in treated area): 100%

Ulceration: 7%

Long-term scarring/pigment changes: 60%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

Monitoring

$500

Side Effects

$300

Total Annual

$15,800

Cost-Effectiveness

GOOD

QALYs Gained

0.8

ICER

$50,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$17,174

Cost per Responder

$17,174

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Complete Clinical Clearance of Lesion100% tumor presence

-98% (Reduction to 2% or less residual tumor (near-complete to complete resolution))

5-Year Local Recurrence Rate30% (for comparable high-risk lesions if suboptimally treated)

-83.3% (-25 percentage points (reducing from 30% to 5%))

Patient-Reported Aesthetic Outcome Score (0-10, higher is better)3/10 (due to tumor disfigurement prior to treatment)

+100% (+3 points (on a 0-10 scale, improving from poor to good))

Secondary Benefits

Functional Impairment Score (0-4, higher score means more impairment)2/4 (moderate impairment due to tumor location)

-50% (-1 point (on a 0-4 impairment scale))

Pain Intensity Score (NRS, 0-10)7/10 (moderate to severe pain)

-71.4% (-5 points (on a 0-10 NRS scale))

Patient Satisfaction Score (0-10, higher is better)5/10 (due to anxiety about cancer/treatment options)

+40% (+2 points (on a 0-10 scale))

Common Side Effects

Skin redness/irritation (radiation dermatitis)

+90%

Fatigue

+60%

Pain/soreness

+40%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Cemiplimab

88% Effectiveness• 90% Confidence• 40% Safety• 7 trials• 2K participants

HIGH EvidencePoor ValueDose: 350 mg IV every 3 weeks

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

2-4 months

Duration

Months to years

Response Rate

45%

Remission Rate

18%

Common Side Effects:

Fatigue: 40%

Musculoskeletal pain: 30%

Rash: 25%

Diarrhea: 20%

Immune-related adverse events: 10%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$153,000

Monitoring

$3,000

Side Effects

$7,000

Total Annual

$163,000

Cost-Effectiveness

POOR

QALYs Gained

1.5

ICER

$200,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$905,556

Cost per Responder

$362,222

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Objective Response Rate (ORR)ORR for advanced CSCC with conventional chemotherapy: 5%

+880% (+44 percentage points)

Complete Response (CR) RateCR rate for advanced CSCC with conventional chemotherapy: 0.5%

+3300% (+16.5 percentage points)

Median Progression-Free Survival (PFS)Median PFS for advanced CSCC with conventional chemotherapy: 3 months

+500% (+15 months)

Median Overall Survival (OS)Median OS for advanced CSCC with conventional chemotherapy: 7 months

+328.57% (+23 months)

Secondary Benefits

Global Health Status/QoL (EORTC QLQ-C30)Average baseline score: 60/100

+16.67% (+10 points)

Pain Intensity (NRS Scale 0-10)Average baseline pain score: 6/10

-33.33% (-2 points)

ECOG Performance Status ScoreAverage baseline score: 2/5

-25% (-0.5 points)

Common Side Effects

Fatigue

+40%

Musculoskeletal pain

+30%

Rash

+25%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 3Phase 4

5-Fluorouracil (topical)

85% Effectiveness• 88% Confidence• 60% Safety• 2 trials• 30K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent ValueDose: 5% cream, twice daily

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

2-4 weeks

Duration

2-4 weeks

Response Rate

85%

Remission Rate

85%

Common Side Effects:

Erythema (redness): 95%

Crusting/erosion: 80%

Pain/burning/soreness: 80%

Edema (swelling): 60%

Pruritus (itching): 60%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$100

Monitoring

$200

Side Effects

$50

Total Annual

$350

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.7

ICER

$20,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$412

Cost per Responder

$412

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Complete Clinical Clearance Rate of Superficial Squamous Cell Carcinoma (sSCC) Lesions0% of lesions cleared

+85% (85% of treated lesions achieved complete clinical clearance)

Histological Clearance Rate of Superficial Squamous Cell Carcinoma (sSCC) Lesions0% of lesions cleared histologically

+75% (75% of treated lesions achieved complete histological clearance)

Reduction in New Actinic Keratosis (AK) LesionsAverage of 10 new AK lesions/year (in high-risk patients)

-70% (-7 new lesions/year)

Reduction in Lesion Recurrence Rate (12-month period)Expected recurrence rate without treatment: 25% within 12 months

-60% (-15 percentage points reduction (e.g., from 25% to 10%))

Secondary Benefits

Patient-Reported Skin Appearance Score (VAS 0-10)5/10 (indicating moderate damage/lesions)

+40% (+2 points (e.g., from 5 to 7))

Reduction in Localized Pain/Discomfort from Lesions (VAS 0-10)3/10 (mild to moderate discomfort)

-67% (-2 points (e.g., from 3 to 1))

Reduction in Future Surgical Interventions for Skin CancerAverage of 0.5 surgical excisions/year (for high-risk patients)

-60% (-0.3 excisions/year)

Common Side Effects

Erythema (redness)

+95%

Crusting/erosion

+80%

Pain/burning/soreness

+80%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

85% Effectiveness• 88% Confidence• 65% Safety• 6 trials• 25K participants

HIGH EvidenceGood ValueDose: ALA/MAL cream 1-3h + light exposure

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 weeks

Duration

1-2 sessions, 1-3 hours each

Response Rate

85%

Remission Rate

85%

Common Side Effects:

Pain/burning (during treatment): 95%

Erythema/swelling: 85%

Crusting/scabbing: 60%

Photosensitivity: 100%

Hyperpigmentation/hypopigmentation: 15%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

Monitoring

$200

Side Effects

$50

Total Annual

$1,750

Cost-Effectiveness

GOOD

QALYs Gained

0.7

ICER

$40,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$2,059

Cost per Responder

$2,059

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Probability of Lesion Persistence (at 3 months post-PDT)100% (prior to treatment)

-90% (-90% (from 100% to 10%))

12-Month Disease-Free Survival (DFS) Rate0% (before successful treatment or for untreated lesions)

+85% (+85% (from 0% to 85%))

Cosmetic Outcome Score (on a 0-10 scale, 0=excellent, 10=poor)6/10 (moderate, reflecting pre-treatment lesion appearance or expected scar from alternative treatments)

-50% (-3.0 points)

Secondary Benefits

Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) Score (0-30, 0=no impact, 30=maximum impact)15/30 (moderate impact on quality of life due to skin condition)

-60% (-9 points)

Lesion-Related Discomfort Score (0-10, 0=no discomfort, 10=worst)4/10 (moderate discomfort from lesion, e.g., itching, tenderness, bleeding)

-75% (-3 points)

Patient Treatment Satisfaction Score (0-10, 0=least satisfied, 10=most satisfied)2/10 (low satisfaction, reflecting initial apprehension or dissatisfaction with previous treatments)

+250% (+5 points (e.g., from 2 to 7))

Common Side Effects

Pain/burning (during treatment)

+95%

Erythema/swelling

+85%

Crusting/scabbing

+60%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4