The incidence of metastatic basal cell carcinoma (mBCC) in Denmark, 1997–2010

Background

Few data exist on the occurrence of metastatic basal cell carcinoma (mBCC).

Objective

To identify all cases of mBCC in Denmark over a 14-year period.

Methods

We searched the Danish National Patient Registry covering all Danish hospitals, the Danish Cancer Registry, the National Pathology Registry and the Causes of Death Registry during the period 1997 to 2010 for potential cases of mBCC registered according to the International classification of diseases ICD-10 and the International Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED).

Results

We identified 126,627 patients with a history of primary basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in the registries during the 14-year study period. Using case identifications from the four registries, a total of 170 potential mBCC cases were identified. However, after a pathology review, only five cases could be confirmed, of which three were basosquamous carcinomas. The 14-year cumulative incidence proportion of mBCC was 0.0039% (95% CI 0.0016–0.0083) among individuals with a history of previousBCC(n = 126,627) and 0.0001% (95% CI 0.0000–0.0002) in the general population.

Conclusion

MBCCis a rare disease and only a small proportion of potential cases identified in automated clinical databases or registries can be confirmed by pathology and medical record review.

     

Visual preferences for direct-gaze faces in infant macaques (Macaca mulatta) with limited face exposure

From birth, human and nonhuman primates attend more to faces with direct gaze compared with averted gaze, and previous studies report that attention to the eyes is linked to the emergence of later social skills. Here, we explored whether early experiences influence attraction to eye contact in infant macaques by examining their attention to face pairs varying in their gaze direction across the first 13 weeks of life. Infants raised by human caretakers had limited conspecific interactions (nursery-reared; N = 16) and were compared to infants raised in rich social environments (mother-reared; N = 20). Both groups looked longer to faces and the eyes of direct compared to averted-gaze faces. Looking to all faces and eyes also increased with age. Nursery-reared infants did not display age-associated increases in attention to direct-gaze faces specifically, suggesting that, while there may be an initial preference for direct-gaze faces from birth, social experiences may support its early development.