Front Med (Lausanne). 2026 Aug 12;13:1891922. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2026.1891922. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) arising in sun-protected genital sites is uncommon and lies outside the typical ultraviolet-driven model of disease. We retrospectively reviewed 41 patients with primary genital BCC treated at a tertiary referral center in China between January 2010 and December 2025, assessing clinicopathologic features, sex-stratified outcomes, p16 expression, and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA status. The cohort included 29 males and 12 females. Female patients were older at diagnosis than male patients (74.8 ± 10.8 vs. 65.4 ± 12.0 years; p = 0.019). Nodular BCC was the predominant histologic subtype (29/41, 70.7%), and aggressive histologic components were present in 7 cases (17.1%). p16 immunoreactivity was detected in 4 of 37 successfully tested cases (10.8%), and high-risk HPV DNA was detected in 2 of 27 successfully tested cases (7.4%). Clinical presentation descriptors were retrospectively extracted from routine medical records and were incompletely documented. During a median follow-up of 51 months, five patients developed local recurrence and one male patient developed inguinal lymph node metastasis. In this exploratory cohort, no statistically significant sex-associated difference in recurrence-free survival was detected (log-rank p = 0.65), but the small number of events precluded inference of equivalent outcomes or exclusion of clinically meaningful sex-related differences. In this Asian cohort, genital BCC was usually nodular, only infrequently associated with detectable high-risk HPV in available tested specimens, and generally favorable after surgery. Because genital lesions may be concealed and clinically non-specific, biopsy should be considered for persistent or suspicious genital lesions, with ongoing postoperative surveillance.
PMID:42656207 | PMC:PMC13506306 | DOI:10.3389/fmed.2026.1891922
