Table 1.

RCTs of the effects of surgery on cosmesis in people with basal cell carcinoma.

Ref	Population	Characteristics of BCCs	Intervention/comparison	Follow-up	Cosmesis
	1 RCT; 96 primary superficial or nodular BCCs	BCCs less than 2 cm in diameter, located anywhere in the head and neck area	Surgery v curettage plus cryotherapy	1 year	Proportion of treated tumours judged as having "good" cosmetic result by clinical professionals: 35/48 to 45/48 (73% to 94%) with surgery v 10/48 to 16/48 (21% to 33%) with cryotherapy; "fair" cosmetic result: 2/48 to 12/48 (4% to 25%) with surgery v 14/48 to 25/48 (29% to 52%) with cryotherapy; "bad" cosmetic result: 1/48 to 4/48 (2% to 8%) with surgery v 7/48 to 24/48 (15% to 50%) with cryotherapy; P less than 0.01 for each comparison
					Proportion of treated tumour sites judged as "good" cosmetic result by participants: 48/48 (100%) with surgery v 42/48 (88%) with cryotherapy; "fair" cosmetic result: 0/48 (0%) with surgery v 6/48 (13%) with cryotherapy; P less than 0.15
					Proportion of treated tumours judged as having "good" cosmetic result by beautician: 28/48 (58%) with surgery v 21/48 (44%) with cryotherapy; "fair" cosmetic result: 19/48 (40%) with surgery v 26/48 (54%) with cryotherapy; "poor" cosmetic result: 1/48 (2%) with surgery v 1/48 (2%) with cryotherapy; P = 0.35
	1 RCT; 118 primary nodular BCCs in 103 people	BCCs at all body sites except mid-face region, orbital areas, and ears. Excluded lesions with a longest diameter of less than 6 mm or greater than 15 mm (face or scalp), greater than 20 mm (extremities or neck), or greater than 30 mm (trunk); and pigmented or morpheaform BCCs	Surgery v photodynamic therapy	3 months	Proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by investigators: 36/44 (82%) with MAL-PDT v 15/45 (33%) with surgery; P = 0.001; proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by participants: 39/41 (95%) with MAL-PDT v 37/44 (84%) with surgery; P = 0.1
				1 year	Proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by investigators: 33/42 (79%) with MAL-PDT v 17/45 (38%) with surgery; P = 0.001; proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by participants: 41/42 (98%) with MAL-PDT v 36/43 (84%) with surgery; P = 0.03
				2 years	Proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by investigators: 24/29 (83%) with MAL-PDT v 16/39 (41%) with surgery; P = 0.001; proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by participants: 28/29 (97%) with MAL-PDT v 27/36 (75%) with surgery; P = 0.04
	196 people with primary superficial BCC	BCCs 8–20 mm diameter; located any body site except mid-face region	Surgery v MAL-PDT	3 months	Proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by investigators: 58% with surgery v 87% with MAL-PDT; proportion of BCCs assessed as having "excellent" or "good" cosmetic outcome by participants: 81% with surgery v 94% with MAL-PDT; P values not reported
	1 RCT; 408 primary BCCs in 374 people, 204 recurrent facial BCCs in 191 people	BCCs of at least 1 cm in diameter, located in the H zone of the face; included aggressive histological subtype (morpheaform, micronodular BCC with squamous differentiation, trabecular, infiltrative)	Surgery with margin control v MMS	Not reported	Mean defect size for primary BCCs: 4.64 cm2 with surgery v 4.06 cm2 with MMS; P = 0.386; mean defect size for recurrent BCCs: 7.78 cm2 with surgery v 7.50 cm2 with MMS; P = 0.598

BCC, basal cell carcinoma; MAL-PDT, methyl aminolaevulinic acid photodynamic therapy; MMS, Mohs' micrographic surgery