Is it really necessary to make wide excisions for basal cell carcinoma treatment?

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the common malignancy at the skin arising from the cells of the basal layer of the epithelium or from the external root sheath of the hair follicle. It usually occurs at sites with the greatest concentration of pilosebaceous follicles, and it is directly related to sun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of craniofacial surgery Vol. 20; no. 6; p. 1989
Main Authors Unlü, Ramazan Erkin, Altun, Serdar, Kerem, Metin, Koç, Mustafa Nihat
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.11.2009
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Carcinoma, Basal Cell - surgery
Facial Neoplasms - surgery
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - prevention & control
Neoplasm, Residual - prevention & control
Skin Neoplasms - surgery
Surgical Procedures, Operative - methods
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Summary:Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the common malignancy at the skin arising from the cells of the basal layer of the epithelium or from the external root sheath of the hair follicle. It usually occurs at sites with the greatest concentration of pilosebaceous follicles, and it is directly related to sun exposure. Metastasis is rare, but it recurs if it is inadequately treated. For preventive recurrence, BCC is often excised with wide skin margins. It leads to sacrifice of healthy tissue and causes morbidity problems. In our study, we make a treatment plan of excising the primary BCC with its natural tumor margin. Incomplete excision rates were compared between the patient group in which the excisions were performed according to the previously mentioned literature knowledge and the patient group in which excisions were made along the visible outer margins of erythema or induration area surrounding the tumor. In conclusion, there was no statistically significant difference between these 2 groups. This treatment modality is suitable for the excision of BCC, and it eliminates the need for the sacrifice of healthy tissue. This technique also offers the successful functional and aesthetic outcome.Therefore, unnecessary tissue sacrifice can be prevented with this method of treatment. We think our method is the new horizon to ongoing debate of safe excision concept of BCC.
ISSN:1536-3732
DOI:10.1097/SCS.0b013e3181bd7533