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Oncologic outcomes after surgery for locally aggressive basal cell carcinoma of the head and neck
Author(s) -
Gill Amarbir S.,
Nittur Vinay R.,
Moore Michael G.,
Farwell D. Gregory,
Bewley Arnaud F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.27882
Subject(s) - medicine , basal cell carcinoma , radiation therapy , hazard ratio , head and neck cancer , surgery , retrospective cohort study , head and neck , surgical margin , odds ratio , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , carcinoma , basal cell , resection , confidence interval
Objective Although basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common skin cancer, locally aggressive BCC of the head and neck is rare and not well studied. Study Design Retrospective review of patients who underwent primary surgical resection of locally aggressive head and neck BCC at a single tertiary academic center. Results Eighty‐seven patients with 98 tumors demonstrated a 5‐year Kaplan‐Meier estimated recurrence‐free survival of 64.5%, overall survival of 83.3%, and disease‐specific survival of 98.3%. Intraoperative positive frozen section margin was a strong independent predictor of local recurrence (hazard ratio 6.88, P = 0.038) and was more likely to occur in tumors previously treated with radiation (odds ratio 6.47 = 0.05). Conclusion Locally aggressive BCCs of the head and neck have high rates of local recurrence but low disease‐specific mortality when treated with primary surgery and selected use of adjuvant therapy. Intraoperative positive frozen section margin is a strong independent predictor of local recurrence and is more likely in tumors that were previously treated with radiation therapy. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope , 130:115–119, 2020