ki-67 expression as a prognostic marker of disease-free interval in basal cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma is one of the most common non-melanotic skin malignancies in the world. despite the low mortality rate of basal cell carcinoma, the morbidity and disability rates due to basal cell carcinoma are quite high. these morbidities primarily arise from the recurrence of basal cell carcinoma. the recurrence rate of a malignancy can be estimated from the aggressiveness of the cancer cells which can be predicted from the expression of ki67 in cancer cells. this study aimed to evaluate the ki67 expression as a prognostic marker in basal cell carcinoma. this cohort study was conducted retrospectively in patients with basal cell carcinoma who had undergone wide excision surgery at dr. soetomo general hospital in 2015-2021. pathological specimens were subjected to ki67 immunohistochemical examination and the incidences of recurrence 2 years after surgery were recorded. the study was conducted on 64 patients, 34 patients without recurrence and 30 patients with recurrence of basal cell carcinoma.  a significant relationship was found between subtype (p=0.036, p<0.05), tumor size (p=0.045, p<0.05), surgical margin (p=0.013, p<0.05), and ki67 expression (p=<0.001, p <0.05). the ki67 expression cutoff point was found to be 20.5% (auc 0.886; 95% ci 0.79-0.98; p = 0.00), where ki67 expression > 20.5% was associated with increased recurrence. there was a significant association between ki67 expression and the incidence of recurrence of basal cell carcinoma.