Among patients with incompletely excised basal cell carcinoma, only about 16% with positive histopathologic margins have clinical recurrence, according to a study in Dermatology.

Dr Maria Daviti, from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and colleagues reported the real-life management of incompletely excised basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in a tertiary referral centre and compared recurrence rates according to management modality in a retrospective study.

All BCCs with available histopathologic assay reporting at least one involved margin (lateral or deep) over a five-year period were identified.

Patients were categorised into three groups: immediate re-excision (group one; 26 patients); follow-up without any additional treatment (group two; 40 patients); and treatment with adjuvant/complementary non-surgical treatment (group three; 18 patients).