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Long‐term recurrence rates of whole specimen intraoperative frozen section analysis in basal cell carcinomas of the face with WIFSA
Author(s) -
Scholten Laura A.,
Kedilioglu Muhammed A.,
Huizinga Pauline M.,
Kibbelaar Robby E.,
Jong Kim,
Mouës Chantal M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.25396
Subject(s) - medicine , basal cell carcinoma , frozen section procedure , basal cell , surgery , carcinoma , pathology
Background and Objectives Recent studies show that whole specimen intraoperative frozen section analysis (WIFSA) is a reliable method for margin analysis in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and has low recurrence rates after five‐years follow‐up. There are no studies with longer follow‐up. Our aim is to present long‐term recurrence rates after WIFSA. Materials and Methods All patients with a facial BCC receiving excision with WIFSA between 1992 and 2007 were evaluated. Recurrence rates were examined for primary BCC (pBCC), recurrent BCCs (rBCC), and the different histological subtypes. The accuracy of WIFSA was assessed by comparing with formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded section analysis. Results A total of 1140 patients with 1265 BCCs underwent excision with WIFSA, with a median and maximum follow‐up of 10 and 25.3 years, respectively. Of all tumors, 90.0% were primary. Excisions were radical after an average of 1.4 excision rounds;5, 10, and 15‐year recurrence rates for pBCCs are 3.3%, 5.1%, and 7.3%, respectively. An aggressive growth pattern and rBCCs are associated with more recurrences. The accuracy of WIFSA is 98.4%. Conclusions WIFSA provides a highly accurate analysis and has a low recurrence rate for primary BCCs. The increasing recurrence rates over time imply 5 years of follow‐up may be insufficient.