Analysis: Age, Number of Mohs Surgery Stages Linked with Higher-risk Basal Cell Carcinoma

Advanced age and an increase in the number of stages of Mohs Micrographic Surgery (MMS) were associated with higher-risk basal cell carcinoma (BCC), according to an analysis in Cancers.

"How patient and tumor factors influence clearance margins and the number of Mohs Micrographic Surgery (MMS) stages when treating basal cell carcinoma (BCC) remains widely uncharacterized," the authors wrote. "It is important to elucidate these relationships, as surgical outcomes may be compared nationally between colleagues. Our objective is to evaluate the relationships between defect size and patient demographics, as well as between BCC subtypes and the number of MMS stages."

The authors performed a retrospective chart review that included a total of 7,651 patients with BCC requiring MMS. According to their findings, following academic center-adjusted analysis, there were clearance margins 0.1 mm higher for each year increase in age (P < 0,0001) and 0.25 increase in MMS stages for high-risk BCC (P < 0.0001). When adjusting for private practice, each year's increase in age correlated with a 0.04 mm increased clearance margin. Older age and additional MMS stages correlated with high-risk BCC.

"In an era when practice patterns benchmarked to national colleagues are crucial, it is important to consider that patient factors (age, gender) and tumor factors (BCC subtype) may also play an important role in predicting the clearance of the tumor and the required number of MMS stages to achieve it," the authors wrote. "Importantly, the results of this study may impact clinical practice."

Source: Daniel V, et al. Cancers 2024, 16(13), 2380; Doi: 10.3390/cancers16132380