Researchers in Italy claim a form of radioactive paste may clear tumors caused by skin cancer without using surgery or radiotherapy.

The U.K. Telegraph reports that the radioactive paste therapy has already been used on 700 patients in Rome, Italy with success rate of 95 percent. The skin therapy, using rhenium-188 radioactive isotope, has minimal side effects and the treatment can be finished within two hours. Researchers believe radiation causes healthy skin to re-grow, so there is no scarring.

"This means that patients with large and difficult-to-treat tumours not only have hope but keep their quality of life under what would otherwise be dire conditions," said Oliver Buck, Executive at the German tech firm ITM which developed the therapy.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. In the United States in 2007, the two most common types of skin cancer—basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas—are highly curable, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC).

Larger trials will be held in Germany and Australia, according to Buck.