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Basal cell carcinoma epidemiology in the UK : the elephant in the room
Author(s) -
Levell N. J.,
Igali L.,
Wright K. A.,
Greenberg D. C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/ced.12016
Subject(s) - basal cell carcinoma , medicine , skin cancer , cryotherapy , histopathology , cancer registry , epidemiology , dermatology , incidence (geometry) , radiation therapy , population , basal cell , cancer , surgery , pathology , physics , environmental health , optics
Summary Background UK Cancer registries have difficulties in recording the incidence of basal cell carcinoma ( BCC ). Aim To estimate the total numbers of BCC s in the UK requiring surgical treatment. Methods The histopathology records of each year from 1999 to 2010 were examined to estimate the total annual numbers of BCC s and of people with BCC in the E ast N orfolk and W aveney area of the UK . Results Over this period, the numbers of patients with surgically treated BCC s increased by 81%, and the numbers of BCC s by 70%. The ratio of BCC s recorded by the cancer registry was 2–2.2 times lower than that recorded in the histopathology data. Extrapolating the data to the UK population suggests that in 2010, approximately 200 000 patients had 247 000 BCC s treated surgically (this estimate does not include those treated by other means such as cryotherapy, topical chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy or radiotherapy, without histology). In 2008, 114 000 nonmelanoma skin cancers were registered in England and Wales and 309 000 total cancers (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) were registered in the UK. Conclusions These data indicate that in the UK , BCC is nearly as common as all other cancers in all other body sites combined.