Basal cell carcinoma in the head and neck. The importance of location and histological picture, studied with a new scoring system, in predicting recurrences.

A scoring system for judging the aggressiveness of basal cell carcinomas of the head and neck is devised, based upon 258 tumours from 123 patients. This system is discussed, and we suggest using the depth of growth, the degree of palisading and the narrow epithelial strand formation (narrow strands) as a scoring basis. It is shown that tumours located on the ear are more aggressive than tumours in other places. Tumours on the nose often recur, even though their histological picture is not that aggressive. This phenomenon is also discussed. For proper scoring, an excisional biopsy should be performed unless the tumour is very small. Recurrent tumours and tumours treated with X-ray also have a higher score.