Surgery after sonidegib treatment achieves complete response in locally advanced basal cell carcinoma of the face

Abstract

Basal cell carcinoma accounts for 75% of skin cancers worldwide and is the most common malignancy in Caucasians. Since chronic ultraviolet exposure is the major risk factor for its development, sun‐exposed areas such as the face are frequently affected. The gold‐standard treatment is surgical excision. Radiotherapy may be considered in selected cases such as unresectable primary tumors. In some patients, when the risk of a significant functional/cosmetic deficit advises against both surgery and radiotherapy, target therapy (hedgehog pathway inhibitors) can be administered alone or in a neoadjuvant setting, to reduce the tumor size and make it eligible for surgery. Vismodegib as a neoadjuvant treatment before surgery has been investigated in a single, multicentre, open‐label, phase II trial (VISMONEO); however, sonidegib has not yet been evaluated in this setting. We report the cases of two patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma of the face who achieved complete remission with sonidegib followed by a more limited surgical excision than would have been needed without target therapy.