Demographic and Tumor Characteristics of Patients Younger Than 50 Years With Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Referred for Mohs Micrographic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: An increase in nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in younger patients has been reported. Many are treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS).

OBJECTIVE: Investigate patient and tumor characteristics in patients less than 50 years undergoing MMS for NMSC at a large, referral-based practice.

METHODS & MATERIALS: Retrospective chart review of 1,332 tumors occurring in 1,018 consecutive patients over a five-year period.

RESULTS: 81.7% of tumors were BCC and 55.3% occurred in women. Patients less than 30 years were more likely to be female (P equals 0.016) and women were more likely to have BCC (P equals 0.010). SCCs were more likely with increasing age (P less than 0.001). Of all tumors, 3.6% were recurrent, 2.7% had diameters ≥ 2 centimeters, and 5.5% of all BCCs had a high-risk histologic subtype. Women were more than twice as likely as men to be referred to plastic surgery for repair (P equals 0.020).

CONCLUSION: Patients < 50 years with NMSC may represent a growing population referred for MMS, especially young women with BCC. High-risk tumor features were rare among young patients, and female gender was associated with an increased rate of referral for repair by a plastics subspecialty. Study was performed at the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York.

IRB STATUS: Approved by Essex Institutional Review Board, Protocol #MOHS40-65 <p><em>J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(5):499-505.</em></p>.