Surgical excision of basal cell carcinoma with complete margin control: outcome at 5-year follow-up

Abstract

Background: The incidence of skin cancer and especially basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has increased in the last few decades. The gold standard of care is usually a surgical excision, but it also has the risk of local recurrence depending on tumor characteristics.

Objectives: We analyzed the 5-year cure rates after surgical excision of BCC with complete margin control using paraffin-embedded sections.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 671 patients (45.3% male, 54.7% female) with 777 primary and 85 with recurrent BCC were collected during 2001-2003. All patients underwent surgery with complete margin control using paraffin-embedded sections. When the histological examination revealed a positive margin, another surgical step was performed in the area of residual tumor.

Results: Five-year follow-up examinations were possible in 630/862 (73.1%) of patients with BCC. In the group with primary BCC (n = 562), 3 tumor recurrences (0.5%) were identified; in the group with recurrent BCC (n = 68), 2 tumor recurrences (2.9%) were seen, resulting in an overall 5-year recurrence rate of 0.8% for all patients with BCC. The mean tumor recurrence time after surgery was 36.6 months.

Conclusion: Local complete tumor resection confirmed by complete margin control using paraffin-embedded sections can achieve excellent cure rates for both primary and recurrent BCC.