title: Five-year results of curettage-cryosurgery of selected large primary basal cell carcinomas on the nose: an alternative treatment in a geographical area underserved by Mohs' surgery.
abstract: Mohs' micrographic surgery (MMS) is the recommended treatment for large basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) of the nose. This 5-year follow-up study attempts to evaluate whether curettage-cryosurgery (CC) could be an alternative therapy in a country where optimal resources for MMS are lacking. All patients with a primary nasal or perinasal BCC, 10 mm or larger in diameter, were assessed at a skin tumour clinic. Sixty-one BCCs of non-morphoeiform type were treated with CC. Most of the tumour was removed by careful curettage with different sized curettes. The tumour area was then frozen with liquid nitrogen in a double freeze-thaw cycle. Fifty patients were followed for at least 5 years with only one recurrence. The cosmetic result was good or acceptable in all patients. A thorough curettage followed by cryosurgery could be a safe and inexpensive alternative therapy even for large primary non-morphoeiform BCCs of the nose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Lundby Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nordin
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Larkö
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stenquist
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D009666:Nose / Q000601:surgery; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*