BACKGROUND: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of human cancer. Despite the high prevalence of these tumors, there is a lack of reliable epidemiological data in some regions including Iran. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between BCC subtypes and anatomical distribution in the Iranian population. METHODS: There were 876 patients with a single BCC enrolled in this study (March 2007 to March 2010; Razi Dermatology Center, Tehran, Iran). RESULTS: Among 876 patients, 544 were males and 332 females. Of the lesions, 43% were nodular, 32.4% mixed type, 3% superficial and rest of other subtypes. In the lesion location, 58.2% were on the face, 29.2% on scalp, 6.2% on ears, 2.3% on neck, 1.7% on trunk and 1.3% on the extremities. There was no significant difference between male and female in the BCC subtypes, but anatomical distribution of the tumor was different (p=0.002). Most of the trunk-arising BCCs were superficial, and most of the facial BCCs were nodular subtype. Also, most of the BCC subtypes occurred in patients between 40 to 80 years old and mostly on the face and scalp (p=0.04). However, superficial BCCs mostly occurred in younger patients over others (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Subtype is associated with a site, independent of gender or age. Also BCCs occurring on the trunk are mostly of the superficial subtype.
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* ; Dermatology ; Ear ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Iran ; Male ; Neck ; Prevalence ; Scalp

Anesthesia and analgesia are major components of many interventional studies on laboratory animals. However, various studies have shown improper reporting or use of anesthetics/analgesics in research proposals and published articles. In many cases, it seems “anesthesia” and “analgesia” are used interchangeably, while they are referring to two different concepts. Not only this is an unethical practice, but also it may be one of the reasons for the proven sub‑ optimal quality of many animal researches. This is a widespread problem among investigations on various species of animals. However, it could be imagined that it may be more prevalent for the most common species of laboratory animals, such as the laboratory mice. In this review, proper anesthetic/analgesic methods for routine procedures on laboratory mice are discussed. We considered the available literature and critically reviewed their anesthetic/analge‑ sic methods. Detailed dosing and pharmacological information for the relevant drugs are provided and some of the drugs’ side effects are discussed. This paper provides the necessary data for an informed choice of anesthetic/analge‑ sic methods in some routine procedures on laboratory mice.