Age at Diagnosis as a Relative Contraindication for Intervention in Facial Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

Abstract

Facial nonmelanoma skin cancers (fNMSCs), consisting of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers diagnosed worldwide and increase with age. Standard treatment for fNMSCs requires biopsy for pathological confirmation, followed by excision. Excision can lead to a pathological diagnosis of no residual carcinoma (NRC) due to no identifiable carcinoma within the excisional specimen. This situation can occur owing to wound healing in the specimen clearing the carcinoma or to the original biopsy shaving off the entire lesion. This study assesses the utility of excising fNMSCs according to age, with the hypothesis that the indolent nature of fNMSCs and the high NRC rate, coupled with increasing age-related all-cause mortality, should cause the surgeon to counsel patients differently. Such counseling may prevent surgery among elderly patients (>90 years) who may never see a benefit from fNMSC excision.