The perspectives of 606 US dermatologists on active surveillance for low-risk basal cell carcinoma.

In this survey study of over 600 US dermatologists, identical clinical scenarios (10mm primary asymptomatic BCC) were presented except for randomly varied patient characteristics including age, life expectancy, and tumor location. Most dermatologists (62%) recommended active surveillance for patients with advanced age (91 years) and a 1-year life expectancy. The odds ratio for choosing active surveillance was 20.31 (95% CI 14.10-35.30) comparing a patient with a 1-year life expectancy to a healthy patient.