Five-year results of curettage-cryosurgery of selected large primary basal cell carcinomas on the nose: an alternative treatment in a geographical area underserved by Mohs' surgery.

ABSTRACT

Mohs' micrographic surgery (MMS) is the recommended treatment for large basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) of the nose. This 5-year follow-up study attempts to evaluate whether curettage-cryosurgery (CC) could be an alternative therapy in a country where optimal resources for MMS are lacking. All patients with a primary nasal or perinasal BCC, 10 mm or larger in diameter, were assessed at a skin tumour clinic. Sixty-one BCCs of non-morphoeiform type were treated with CC. Most of the tumour was removed by careful curettage with different sized curettes. The tumour area was then frozen with liquid nitrogen in a double freeze-thaw cycle. Fifty patients were followed for at least 5 years with only one recurrence. The cosmetic result was good or acceptable in all patients. A thorough curettage followed by cryosurgery could be a safe and inexpensive alternative therapy even for large primary non-morphoeiform BCCs of the nose.