Characteristics of sebaceous carcinoma and early outcomes of treatment using Mohs micrographic surgery versus wide local excision: an update of the Mayo Clinic experience over the past 2 decades.

BACKGROUND: Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) is a rare cutaneous neoplasm.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize SC and treatment approaches and outcomes.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients with SC from 1992 through 2012. Recurrence-free survival was estimated and compared between groups.

RESULTS: We identified 52 patients with SC (39, 75.0% male). Mean age ± standard deviation at diagnosis was 72.7 ± 10.8. Forty-nine patients (94.2%) were white. Twenty-one (of 29 with known status) had a diagnosis of Muir-Torre syndrome. Six had multiple primary SCs (total of 73 SCs in 52 patients). The most common locations for SC were the back (20.5%), cheek (13.7%), nose (11.0%), and eye (9.6%). Treatment was recorded for 70 SCs; 35 (50.0%) were treated using Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) and 26 (37.1%) using wide local excision (WLE). Of the 45 patients (66 SCs) with clinical follow-up, three (6.7% of patients; 4.8% of SCs) had documented recurrence.

CONCLUSION: MMS and WLE are effective treatments for SC. Further research is warranted to determine whether one treatment is more efficacious than the other.