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Marjolin ulcer: A single-center experience and evaluation of staging systems
Mert Can Rador1, Azmi Can Ofluoğlu1, Alperen Pala1
1Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital, D-100 Güney Yanyol No:47, Cevizli, İstanbul, Kartal 34865, Turkey.
Introduction:
Marjolin ulcer lacks a disease-specific staging system, and existing cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) staging criteria have never been formally tested against outcomes in this disease.
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed 42 consecutive Marjolin ulcer patients treated at a single tertiary center between 2010 and 2025, applied the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) staging systems, and analyzed clinicopathological predictors of recurrence and survival including tumor depth of invasion (DOI) in millimeters.
Results:
The cohort was predominantly male (71%) with a mean age of 54 years; burns were the leading etiology (67%), and the lower extremity was the most common site (69%). At median follow-up of 48 months, recurrence occurred in 26.2% and overall mortality in 21.4%. The AJCC system classified 71% of tumors as T3 and did not discriminate recurrence (p = 0.537) or mortality (p = 0.760). BWH staging was similarly nonsignificant. The AJCC cutaneous SCC depth threshold of 6 mm failed for recurrence (p = 0.477). When oral cavity SCC DOI thresholds were applied as an exploratory framework, patients with DOI ≤ 5 mm had no distant metastasis (0/23), whereas those with DOI > 10 mm had 80% recurrence and 60% distant metastasis (log-rank p < 0.001). Pathological nodal metastasis was the strongest independent predictor of recurrence-free survival (HR 5.91; p = 0.012).
Conclusions:
Current staging systems fail to stratify outcomes in Marjolin ulcer. Standardized reporting of DOI in millimeters alongside pathological nodal status across future series is needed for disease-specific staging and treatment algorithms.
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