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. 2013 Nov 4;347:f6153. doi: 10.1136/bmj.f6153

Table 9.

  Recurrence of SCCs after cryotherapy studies

Study and No of SCCs Site Follow-up Proportion (95% CI) of SCCs with recurrence Prognostic features* Study design
Fontana 1975 (n=7) Unspecified 32 months to 5 years 0.00 (0.00 to 0.41) No data Retrospective
Fraunfelder 1980 (n=21) Periocular Average 21.6 months 0.00 (0.00 to 0.16) Diameter <10 mm (71%), ≥11 mm (29%) Prospective
Graham 1990 (n=563) All Unspecified 97.3% (“cure”†) Diameter <5 mm (25%), 6-12 mm (56.4%), 13-24 mm (15.5%), >24 mm (3.1%) Retrospective
Holt 1988 (n=34) All Range 6 months to 5.5 years 0.03 (0.00 to 0.15) Diameter >2 cm (14.7%); indeterminate margins, tethering, deeply invasive, and SCCs of external ear involving underlying cartilage excluded Prospective
Kuflik 1986 (n=5) Arms and hands Range 12 months to 6 years 0.00 (0.00 to 0.52) Diameter: all 2-5 cm Prospective
Kuflik 2004 (n=134) All 5 years 0.00 (0.00 to 0.03) Diameter 3-5 mm; “Only cases amenable to cryotherapy were treated” Retrospective
Lindemalm-Lundstam 2009 (n=53) Face and scalp Mean 42 months 0.00 (0.00 to 0.07) Mean diameter 8 mm (range 1-76); lesions in area circumscribed by upper lip and nasolabial folds excluded Prospective
Nordin 2002 (n=13) External ear ≤10 years (8 of 13 followed for at least 5 years) 0.00 (0.00 to 0.25) Mean diameter 18 mm (range 5-70) Prospective
Peikert 2011 (n=6) Below neck 5 years 0.00 (0.00 to 0.46) Diameter: all <2 cm; no invasion beyond papillary dermis; spindle cell and poorly differentiated SCCs excluded Prospective

*Percentages indicate proportion of SCCs in study.

†“Cure” not defined.