Rates of incomplete excision of non-melanoma skin cancer might be higher than previously believed, with GPs performing least well, a systematic review has found.

In the review and meta-analysis of 110 studies, including nine from Australia, UK researchers found that about one in 10 excisions were incomplete.

The review, covering nearly 54,000 patients, showed that among 107,000 BCCs histology margins were not clear of cancerous cells in 11% of excisions and this was also the case for 9.4% of 21,500 SCCs.

This was double the proportion of incomplete excisions cited by UK national guidelines, the authors reported.