[Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography in keratinocyte cancer and margin delineation in basal cell carcinoma].

Background: The number of patients with keratinocyte tumors is steadily increasing. In addition, personnel and procedural costs for surgical treatment are also rising.

Objectives: How suitable are modern, noninvasive dermatological imaging devices for improving the efficiency of tumor diagnostics and therapy in keratinocyte skin cancer, thereby enhancing treatment outcomes?

Materials and methods: Description of the process using a patient pathway and case studies, with discussion of existing literature and future perspectives.

Results and discussion: Modern noninvasive imaging techniques such as line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) offer promising approaches in the surgical treatment of keratinocyte skin cancer, enabling high-resolution real-time tumor diagnostics. Early studies show that LC-OCT can be used both for early diagnosis without biopsy and for preoperative margin delineation of basal cell carcinomas. These techniques allow for efficiency-enhancing concepts in modern tumor therapy. However, clinical data on the practicability of these methods are currently lacking, highlighting the urgent need for validated studies for critical evaluation.

Conclusion: Noninvasive imaging can increase the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment of keratinocyte tumors through early and rapid diagnosis as well as artificial intelligence-assisted surgical planning.