title: Association Between Mohs Surgery Wait Times and Surgical Defect Size in Patients With Squamous Cell or Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Skin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Consequences of delays in treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCA) are largely unstudied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relationship between Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) delay time and final MMS defect size.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review was performed to identify patients who underwent MMS for biopsy-proven basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) between 2004 and 2006. Time delay between date of biopsy and date of surgery and lesion diameter increase between biopsy and surgical defect were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred eighty-three lesions qualified for inclusion in the study. No significant difference in mean change of major diameter between primary and recurrent tumors (1.0 vs 1.1 cm, p = .67), between BCCs and SCCs (both were 1.0 cm, p = .99), and between tumor size at presentation <1.0 versus ≥1.0 cm (1.1 vs 0.8 cm, p = .11) were found. However, the mean number of MMS layers taken was significantly different between BCCs and SCCs (1.9 vs 1.5, respectively; p = .0022). Linear regression analysis of major diameter change versus time delay to MMS showed no significant increasing trend over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No evidence was found that time delays of up to 1 year from biopsy to MMS impact the growth of NMSCA.
authors.affiliation: *Division of Dermatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California; †David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California; ‡Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California; §Dermatology Service, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: Young M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Li-Jung
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Melvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors