The clinical and histopathological characteristics of early-onset basal cell carcinoma in Asians

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2017 Jan;31(1):75-80. doi: 10.1111/jdv.13793. Epub 2016 Jun 29.

Abstract

Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is by far the most common cancer in white populations. In addition, recent reports have demonstrated an increasing incidence of BCC in Korea. We have observed a significant number of early-onset BCC cases in which the disease occurred in patients younger than 50 years.

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of early-onset BCC in an Asian population, specifically in Koreans.

Methods: One hundred and five patients with early-onset BCC were enrolled from a total of 1047 BCC patients who underwent surgery between January 1997 and December 2014 (942 patients over the age of 50 years were designated as the control group).

Results: Early-onset BCC accounted for 10.03% of all 1047 cases and the incidence over time displayed an incremental trend. The early-onset group displayed similar results as the control group, with a predominance of female BCC patients and the majority of tumours displaying the following characteristics: small in size, occurring in sun-exposed areas and belonging to the noduloulcerative clinical subtype and nodular histopathological subtype. In comparison with a previous study in a Western population, the incidence of the disease in non-exposed areas of the body, as well as the proportion of tumours of the superficial histological subtype, were lower in Asian patients.

Conclusion: Although the clinicopathological characteristics of BCC are well-known, these characteristics have not been determined for early-onset BCC in an Asian population. Therefore, this study is the first report on early-onset BCC in Asians, specifically in a Korean patient group.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Asian People
  • Carcinoma, Basal Cell / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Young Adult