title: Five-year results of curettage-cryosurgery for 100 consecutive auricular non-melanoma skin cancers.
abstract: Large excisions or Mohs' micrographic surgery (MMS) are often the suggested treatments for non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) of the external ear. This five-year follow-up attempts to evaluate whether curettage-cryosurgery could be an alternative therapy for selected auricular NMSCs. One hundred auricular NMSCs, selected at a skin tumour clinic, were treated by a thorough curettage, with different-sized curettes, followed by cryosurgery in a double freeze-thaw cycle. Seventy-seven basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), 13 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), six SCCs in situ, and four basosquamous carcinomas were included. The mean diameter of the tumours was 18 mm (range 5-70). Morphoeiform BCCs, recurrent BCCs with fibrotic component, and most of the SCCs were selected for MMS. Seventy-one patients with 81 tumours were followed-up for at least five years with only one recurrence. Nineteen patients with 19 tumours, followed-up for two to four years, died from other causes with no sign of recurrence at their last visit. Patients followed-up for less than two years were excluded. No major problems were registered after treatment. The cosmetic result was good or acceptable in most patients. In carefully selected patients a thorough curettage followed by freezing with liquid nitrogen in a double freeze-thaw cycle could be a safe and inexpensive therapy even for large NMSCs of the external ear.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology, Frölunda Specialist Hospital and Lundby Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nordin
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stenquist
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D003475:Curettage / Q000379:methods*; D004428:Ear Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004431:Ear, External / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D016896:Treatment Outcome