A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa

Background. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is an important malignancy in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a paucity of data regarding BCC in South Africa. Aims. To describe the clinicopathological features of patients presenting with BCC in a cohort of South African patients. Methods. This retrospective des...

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Main Authors: J. C. Gallo, J. W. Schneider, J. de Wet, K. Moxley, H. F. Jordaan, W. I. Visser, B. Tod
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-01-01
Series:Journal of Skin Cancer
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8443867
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author J. C. Gallo
J. W. Schneider
J. de Wet
K. Moxley
H. F. Jordaan
W. I. Visser
B. Tod
author_facet J. C. Gallo
J. W. Schneider
J. de Wet
K. Moxley
H. F. Jordaan
W. I. Visser
B. Tod
author_sort J. C. Gallo
collection DOAJ
description Background. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is an important malignancy in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a paucity of data regarding BCC in South Africa. Aims. To describe the clinicopathological features of patients presenting with BCC in a cohort of South African patients. Methods. This retrospective descriptive study reviewed the medical records of 149 patients with BCC who attended the dermatology clinic at Tygerberg Academic Hospital from September 2015 to August 2016. Demographic and clinical data of those patients with histologically proven BCC were retrieved from clinical records. The data included the assessment for BCC recurrence after three years (September 2016–August 2019). Results. Of 390 patients, 155 (39.7%) had histologically confirmed BCCs. Complete medical records were available for 149 of these patients, and most were male (55.7%) and white (85.9%) with a median age of 70 years. Most patients had their BCC lesions for 12 months (43.1%) before diagnosis. BCCs were mostly located on the head and neck area (58.1%). In most patients (72.0%), a diagnostic punch biopsy confirmed BCC. Plastic surgeons subsequently excised the BCC lesions in 74.0% of these patients. The most common histological subtype was nodular BCC (74.0%). The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk of recurrence was approximately evenly distributed between high- (54.1%) and low-risk groups (45.9%). The major high-risk feature was the location (36.6%). Histologically confirmed BCC recurrence occurred in 9 of the 149 patients (3.7%) over three years. Conclusions. BCC represents a high burden of disease in our setting. Compared to existing studies, the BCCs in this study are clinically and histologically similar to international reports.
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spelling doaj-art-fea282be72a74649bc253793cd0811fd2025-02-03T01:23:09ZengWileyJournal of Skin Cancer2090-29132022-01-01202210.1155/2022/8443867A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South AfricaJ. C. Gallo0J. W. Schneider1J. de Wet2K. Moxley3H. F. Jordaan4W. I. Visser5B. Tod6Division of DermatologyDivision of Anatomical PathologyDivision of DermatologyRegistrar Research Support OfficeDivision of DermatologyDivision of DermatologyDivision of DermatologyBackground. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is an important malignancy in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a paucity of data regarding BCC in South Africa. Aims. To describe the clinicopathological features of patients presenting with BCC in a cohort of South African patients. Methods. This retrospective descriptive study reviewed the medical records of 149 patients with BCC who attended the dermatology clinic at Tygerberg Academic Hospital from September 2015 to August 2016. Demographic and clinical data of those patients with histologically proven BCC were retrieved from clinical records. The data included the assessment for BCC recurrence after three years (September 2016–August 2019). Results. Of 390 patients, 155 (39.7%) had histologically confirmed BCCs. Complete medical records were available for 149 of these patients, and most were male (55.7%) and white (85.9%) with a median age of 70 years. Most patients had their BCC lesions for 12 months (43.1%) before diagnosis. BCCs were mostly located on the head and neck area (58.1%). In most patients (72.0%), a diagnostic punch biopsy confirmed BCC. Plastic surgeons subsequently excised the BCC lesions in 74.0% of these patients. The most common histological subtype was nodular BCC (74.0%). The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk of recurrence was approximately evenly distributed between high- (54.1%) and low-risk groups (45.9%). The major high-risk feature was the location (36.6%). Histologically confirmed BCC recurrence occurred in 9 of the 149 patients (3.7%) over three years. Conclusions. BCC represents a high burden of disease in our setting. Compared to existing studies, the BCCs in this study are clinically and histologically similar to international reports.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8443867
spellingShingle J. C. Gallo
J. W. Schneider
J. de Wet
K. Moxley
H. F. Jordaan
W. I. Visser
B. Tod
A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
Journal of Skin Cancer
title A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
title_full A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
title_fullStr A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
title_short A Profile and Three-Year Follow-Up of Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma in the Western Cape, South Africa
title_sort profile and three year follow up of patients with basal cell carcinoma in the western cape south africa
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8443867
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