Basal cell carcinoma treated with Mohs surgery in Australia III. Perineural invasion.
BACKGROUND
Perineural invasion (PNI) is an important factor may possibly influence the aggressiveness of basal cell carcinoma (BCC).


OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to evaluate the incidence, features, and outcomes of BCC with PNI in patients treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS).


METHODS
This prospective, multicenter case series included all patients in Australia treated with MMS for BCC with PNI, who were monitored by the Skin and Cancer Foundation Australia between 1993 and 2002. The parameters recorded were patient demographics, reason for referral, duration of tumor, site, preoperative tumor size, recurrence before MMS, histologic subtypes, postoperative defect size, and recurrence at 5 years after MMS.


RESULTS
Two-hundred eighty-three patients were diagnosed with PNI. Most cases occurred in male patients (61%; P = .006) and in previously recurrent tumors (60.4%; P < .001). The infiltrating, morpheic, and basosquamous subtypes were more likely to be associated with PNI (P < .0001). Tumor sizes before excision and postoperative defect sizes were significantly larger in cases with PNI compared with cases with no PNI (P < .001 for both parameters), as was the mean number of Mohs excision levels. Seventy-eight patients completed a 5-year follow-up period after MMS, and 6 of them (7.7%) were diagnosed with recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
Data were missing for some outcome measures.


CONCLUSIONS
PNI is an uncommon feature of BCC. When present, PNI is associated with larger, more aggressive tumors, and the risk of 5-year recurrence is higher. This emphasizes the importance of tumor excision with margin control and long-term patient monitoring.
Leibovitch
Igal
I
Oculoplastic and Orbital Division, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Royal Adelaide Hospital, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia.
Huilgol
Shyamala C
SC
Selva
Dinesh
D
Richards
Shawn
S
Paver
Robert
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery