title: Incidence and prevalence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and locally advanced BCC (LABCC) in a large commercially insured population in the United States: A retrospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Accurate evaluation of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in the United States was not possible before the 2011 release of BCC-specific International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to describe BCC (including locally advanced BCC [LABCC]) incidence/prevalence and the characteristics of patients in a commercially insured US population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective cohort study used Truven Health MarketScan database insurance claims. Patients, aged 18 years or older with 2 or more BCC claims at least 30 days apart from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012, were continuously enrolled in medical and pharmacy benefits for 12 months before and after the index claim. A specific algorithm was used to classify patients with LABCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 56,987 patients with BCC were identified (39,035 incident cases; 17,952 prevalent cases). Age-adjusted BCC incidence and prevalence were 226.09 and 342.64 per 100,000 persons, respectively. These values project to 542,782 patients (incidence) and 822,593 patients (prevalence) in the 2012 US population. LABCC was uncommon (471 cases identified; projected US incidence and prevalence: 4399 and 7940 patients, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of medical claims data and retrospective analysis are limitations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a study designed to distinguish patients with LABCC from the general BCC population based on BCC-specific International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes, 0.8% were found to have LABCC, the majority having pre-existing disease.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York. Electronic address: garygoldenbergmd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.affiliation: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karagiannis
authors.affiliation: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Jacqueline Blanche
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: Novartis Ireland Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Juzer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lotya
authors.affiliation: Novartis Ireland Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Caitriona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kisa
authors.affiliation: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.affiliation: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Siegel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: basal cell carcinoma; epidemiology; incidence; locally advanced disease; metastatic disease; nonmelanoma skin cancer; prevalence; retrospective claims analysis