The majority of poor outcomes were found to occur within 3 years of treatment.
Clinical Pearls
This retrospective study aimed to better understand the nature of recurrence in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
The authors used data from 321 tumors and found the median time to local recurrence was 11.3 months (95% CI: 8.8-14.6 months) and the median time to disease-specific death was also 11.3 months (95% CI: 9.3-13.3)
The majority of poor outcomes were found to occur within 3 years of treatment
Discussion:
This study sought to analyze the type and timing of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) recurrence in a dual-institutional cohort with the goal of providing evidence for risk-appropriate clinical surveillance. The authors first noted that current guidelines lack a specificity for follow-up recommendations following treatment of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
Using a database from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the authors identified primary cSCC that underwent curative-intent therapy. Any tumor that developed a poor outcome (local recurrence, in-transit metastasis, nodal metastasis, distal metastasis, disease-specific death) were included in this study while mucosal cSCC, in situ tumors, and metastatic cSCC of unknown origin were excluded
Using data from 296 patients who collectively had 321 tumors, the authors found the median time to local recurrence to be 11.3 months (95% CI: 8.8-14.6 months). Additionally, the authors found 74.3%, 84.9%, and 95.5% of local recurrences detected within 2, 3, and 5 years respectively. The median time to disease-specific death was also found to be 11.3 months (95% CI: 9.3-13.3). In summary, the majority of poor outcomes following treatment for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma occurred within 3 years.
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