Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Mohs Surgery Referral for Patients <50 with NMSC
J Drugs Dermatol; 2018 May; Quatrano, Mu, et al
Patients aged <50 years with nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) may represent a growing population referred for Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS), especially young women with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a recent study found. High-risk tumor features were rare among young patients, and female gender was associated with an increased rate of referral for repair by a plastics subspecialty. Researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of 1,332 tumors occurring in 1,018 consecutive patients over a 5-year period. They found:
- 81.7% of tumors were BCC and 55.3% occurred in women.
- Patients aged <30 years were more likely to be female and women were more likely to have BCC.
- Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) were more likely with increasing age.
- Of all tumors, 3.6% were recurrent, 2.7% had diameters ≥ 2 centimeters, and 5.5% of all BCCs had a high-risk histologic subtype.
- Women were > twice as likely as men to be referred to plastic surgery for repair.
Quatrano NA, Mu EW, Orbuch DE, Haimovic A, Geronemus RG, Brauer JA. Demographic and tumor characteristics of patients younger than 50 years with nonmelanoma skin cancer referred for Mohs micrographic surgery. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(5):499-505.