Recurrence rates of basal cell carcinoma of the periocular skin: what to do with patients who have positive margins after resection

OBJECTIVE: To determine the recurrence rates of basal cell carcinoma of the periocular skin in patients who were in the following 3 groups after pathologic analysis: Mohs frozen sections (negative margins); permanent sections with positive tumor margins; and permanent sections with negative tumor margins at the time of primary surgical removal. DESIGN: The study is a retrospective chart review. PARTICIPANTS: We identified 385 patients who underwent surgery for basal cell carcinoma. The surgery was performed by a single surgeon between January 1, 1995 and January 1, 2005. METHODS: The patients were divided into 3 groups: (i) Mohs frozen sections with margins negative for tumor; (ii) permanent sections with margins negative for tumor; (iii) permanent sections with margins positive for tumor. The recurrence rates of basal cell carcinoma were compared. RESULTS: The recurrence-free rate was 92% for the group that had had Mohs frozen-section, 87% for the group that had had permanent sections with negative margins, and 80% for the group that had had permanent sections with positive margins at 170 months follow-up time. We found that the only predictor of recurrence rate was younger age (hazards ratio (HR) = 0.97 95%; CI 0.94, 0.99; p = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: The results showed a statistically significant difference in the recurrence-free rate in the 3 groups. A minimum of a 3-year follow-up is recommended in patients who have had basal cell carcinomas removed; the average time to recurrence was approximately 3 years.