title: Epidemiological and excision margin status of Basal cell carcinoma--three years Armed Forces Institute of Pathology experience in Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The rationale of this study is to analyze the demographic distribution and clearance of excision margin in basal cell carcinoma among patients diagnosed at AFIP Rawalpindi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Records of a total of 235 cases diagnosed from January 2005 to December 2007 were retrieved from our tumour registry. The following variables were recorded for each patient: age, gender, site of biopsy, type of biopsy (incisional vs excisional) and status of clearance of surgical margins. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the total of 235 cases, 125 (53.2%) were males and 110 (46.8%) were females (1.2:1). The ages ranged from 32 to 90 years with mean age of 60.0 + 11.7, with a general age-dependent increase. The nose was the most frequent site (28.9%), followed by the eye, including the orbit (24.7%), and the cheek (20.4%). Among the type of biopsies, 140 (59.6%) were excisional and 95 (40.4%) were incisional. With the former, the excision margins were reported as clear in 82 (34.9%) cases and involved in 55 (23.4%) cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) appears to be on the rise in our part of world. Careful clinical assessment, and complete excision with the help of frozen sections can avoid recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asif
authors.forename: Nadira
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mamoon
authors.forename: Zafar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Farhan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akhtar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002610:Cheek / Q000473:pathology; D005134:Eye Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology