NMSC: PlastUK

National audit of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer excisions by Plastic Surgery in the United Kingdom

The first ever national audit of skin cancer practice by Plastic Surgery.

Update 04/11/2020

Data collection has finished and consultant validation is underway. At close, 2208 patients with 2618 excisions were submitted.
The interim publication was accepted by British Journal of Surgery (impact factor 5.67). A link can be found here Congratulations to all of the collaborative authors

Update (22/06/2020)

1823 patients were submitted up to the 14th June. These are now being analysed for a interim publication (part of #RSTNCOVID: Skin)
32 Plastic Surgery units are registered and submitting data.
Patients can be submitted up until the 20th July (+ 3 month for follow up data).

Updates (12/05/2020)

NMSC: PlastUk has been successfully registered in 29 Plastic Surgery units.
Over 450 patients have been submitted so far.
Due to COVID-19 we are planning an interim publication on the effect the pandemic has had on skin cancer surgery. We will also shortly be expanding to collect data on melanoma surgery – part of the #RSTNCOVID project.

Background

Non-melanoma skin cancer includes basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). They are the commonest cancers in the United Kingdom (UK) accounting for 20% of all new malignancies.

Treatment mainly consists of surgical excision with a ‘cuff’ of normal tissue. This also allows the specimen to be examined to ensure it was entirely removed and that the margins are clear from tumour cells. This is important as between 31-41% of lesions without clear margins will recur.

Aims & objectives

To conduct a national audit of the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer by Plastic Surgery units within the UK.
This will establish the incomplete excision rate, early complications (bleeding, infection, graft/flap failure) and further management of incomplete excisions (re-excision, referral for radiotherapy) on a national scale.

Project outline

Systematic review (underway)
National prospective audit of non-melanoma skin cancer by Plastic Surgery in the UK. Data collection to begin 16th March 2020.
Re-audit in 1 years’ time (2021)

Get involved

We are currently recruiting collaborators who will collect data on skin cancer excisions from Plastic Surgery units in the UK.

There is no issue with having several collaborators from one unit in this project. It is important to ensure you work with the other collaborators ensure you collect data on different lesions.

Responsibilities of a collaborator to be PubMed cited

Gain support from your department (e.g. consultant supervisor)
Register the audit NMSC: PlastUK with your NHS Trust.
Collect prospective data on 30 skin cancer excisions during the data collection window and follow these up with their histology results.
Upload anonymised data to the REDCap database with histology / clinical data.

Benefits

Certificate of involvement will be provided on completion of the project.
Pubmed citation on any subsequent publication directly related to these data.
Cited as a collaborator on any presentation relating to these data and RSTN website.
Option to present local data separately (i.e. local or regional meeting).

Plastic Surgery units with representatives

It is possible to have multiple representatives from a single unit, and in this instance you should work with the other collaborators to ensure you collect data on different lesions.

Team

Steering group:
Mr. Grant Nolan. Core Surgical Trainee, Whiston Hospital, Merseyside.

Mr. Benjamin Smeeton. Specialty Registrar in Plastic Surgery, St. Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, Broomfield Hospital.

Mr. Justin Wormald. Specialty Registrar in Plastic Surgery, Oxford
NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, Oxford.

Miss. Anna Allan. Specialty Registrar in Plastic Surgery, London.

Miss. Ailbhe Kiely, Core Surgical Trainee, University Hospitals of North Midlands.

Mr. Rowan Pritchard Jones. Medical Director, Consultant Plastic Reconstructive Surgeon, Whiston Hospital, Merseyside. Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer Liverpool University.

Prof. Abhilash Jain. Consultant plastic and hand surgeon at Charing Cross & St Mary’s Hospitals, Imperial Collage Healthcare NHS trust. Associate Professor of Plastic and Hand Surgery. Oxford.

Mr. Matthew Gardiner. Surgical Specialty Lead for Plastic Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Consultant Hand and Plastic Surgeon at Wexham Park Hospital. Hon Departmental Clinical Lecturer, Oxford.