Rate and Characteristics of Incompletely Excised Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Dermatological Daily Practice Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUNDIncomplete excision of squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is associated with an increased risk of recurrence, metastasis, and mortality.OBJECTIVETo determine the rate and characteristics of incompletely excised cSCC in a dermatological daily practice setting.METHODSProspective study of all patients who gave informed consent, with a cSCC treated with standard excision (SE) at 1 of 6 Departments of Dermatology in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2017. Pathological reports were screened to detect all incompletely excised cSCCs.RESULTSA total of 592 patients with 679 cSCCs were included, whereby most cases were low risk cSCC (89%). The rate of incompletely excised cSCC was 4% (n = 26), and the majority were high-risk cSCCs of which 24 invaded the deep excision margin.CONCLUSIONThis prospective study showed that in a dermatological setting, the risk of an incompletely excised cSCC is low (4%) for a cohort that was dominated by low-risk cSCCs. Most incompletely excised cSCCs were of high risk, and incompleteness was almost always at the deep margins. These results suggest that for high-risk cSCC, one should pay attention especially to the deep margin when performing SE, and/or microscopic surgery should be considered

Rate and Characteristics of Incompletely Excised Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Dermatological Daily Practice Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Incomplete excision of squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is associated with an increased risk of recurrence, metastasis, and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate and characteristics of incompletely excised cSCC in a dermatological daily practice setting. METHODS: Prospective study of all patients who gave informed consent, with a cSCC treated with standard excision (SE) at 1 of 6 Departments of Dermatology in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2017. Pathological reports were screened to detect all incompletely excised cSCCs. RESULTS: A total of 592 patients with 679 cSCCs were included, whereby most cases were low risk cSCC (89%). The rate of incompletely excised cSCC was 4% (n = 26), and the majority were high-risk cSCCs of which 24 invaded the deep excision margin. CONCLUSION: This prospective study showed that in a dermatological setting, the risk of an incompletely excised cSCC is low (4%) for a cohort that was dominated by low-risk cSCCs. Most incompletely excised cSCCs were of high risk, and incompleteness was almost always at the deep margins. These results suggest that for high-risk cSCC, one should pay attention especially to the deep margin when performing SE, and/or microscopic surgery should be considered

Efficacy, cost-minimization, and budget impact of a personalized discharge letter for basal cell carcinoma patients to reduce low-value follow-up care

Background The incidence of keratinocyte carcinomas is high and rapidly growing. Approximately 80% of keratinocyte carcinomas consist of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) with 50% of these being considered as low-risk tumors. Nevertheless, 83% of the low-risk BCC patients were found to receive more follow-up care than recommended according to the Dutch BCC guideline, which is one visit post-treatment for this group. More efficient management could reduce unnecessary follow-up care and related costs. Objectives To study the efficacy, cost-utility, and budget impact of a personalized discharge letter for low-risk BCC patients compared with usual care (no personalized letter). Methods In a multi-center intervention study, a personalized discharge letter in addition to usual care was compared to usual care in first-time BCC patients. Model-based cost-utility and budget impact analyses were conducted, using individual patient data gathered via surveys. The outcome measures were number of follow-up visits, costs and quality adjusted life years (QALY) per patient. Results A total of 473 first-time BCC patients were recruited. The personalized discharge letter decreased the number of follow-up visits by 14.8% in the first year. The incremental costs after five years were -24.45 per patient. The QALYs were 4.12 after five years and very similar in both groups. The national budget impact was -2,7 million after five years. Conclusions The distribution of a personalized discharge letter decreases the number of unnecessary follow-up visits and implementing the intervention in a large eligible population would results in substantial cost savings, contributing to restraining the growing BCC costs