Long-term outcome of squamous cell carcinoma of the upper and lower limbs.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common malignant skin tumour in the European population, with an annual estimated age-standardised incidence of 1-6 per 1000. After the head and neck, the upper and lower limbs are the most common sites affected with 14% of SCCs occurring in these areas. SCC has the potential to be a highly aggressive tumour but there are no recent studies looking at the long-term outcome of patients with extremity SCC. A retrospective study was performed of 243 patients with a total of 517 upper and lower extremity SCCs who had been followed up for at least 4yrs. All patients' lesions were studied at one institution and data was collected from the Medical and Histopathology records. We found that there is only a low rate of recurrence or metastasis for extremity SCCs and that patients had a good prognosis overall. Copyright 2009 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.