Recurrence rate of positive margin basal cell carcinoma: results of a five-year prospective study.

The few previous studies on recurrence of incompletely excised basal cell carcinoma are retrospective, and the reported recurrence rate ranges from 19% to 67%. In a prospective study design, wer found a recurrence rate of 41% and 34 surgically excised positive-margin basal cell carcinomas. The mean time until tumor recurrence was 24.6 months. The mean follow-up time in those patients remaining free of tumor was 61.4 months.