Name: Basal cell carcinoma classification
Published: 2023-03-17
Keywords: Pathology, Whole slide imaging, Weakly annotated, Basal cell carcinoma, Skin cancer

Whole slide pathology images from cutaneous basal cell carcinomas (BCC) specimens collected at the Department of Pathology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden. All whole slide images (WSI) are annotated on a slide level. The dataset contains:

1832 WSIs from 479 excised BCCs.
261 WSIs from punch biopsies representing BCCs and 253 WSIs from tumor-free skin biopsies.
995 WSIs from frozen Mohs micrographic surgery.

Keywords: Pathology, Whole slide imaging, Weakly annotated, Basal cell carcinoma, Skin cancer.

Sample images

Sample images with reduced image quality. Please click to preview.

Dataset information

Short name	BCCC
Origin	Clinical
Cite as	Noora Neittaanmäki, Kajsa Villiamsson, Jan Siarov, Filmon Yacob, Juulia T Suvilehto, Lisa Sjöblom, Magnus Kjellberg, and John Paoli (2023) Basal cell carcinoma classification doi:10.23698/aida/bccc [BibTeX format] `@misc{ neittaanmäki_2023_bccc, author = { Noora Neittaanmäki and Kajsa Villiamsson and Jan Siarov and Filmon Yacob and Juulia T Suvilehto and Lisa Sjöblom and Magnus Kjellberg and John Paoli }, title = { Basal cell carcinoma classification }, year = 2023, publisher = { AIDA }, doi = { 10.23698/aida/bccc }, howpublished = { Available: AIDA Data Hub }, url = { https://datahub.aida.scilifelab.se/10.23698/aida/bccc } }`
Field	Pathology
Organ	Skin
Age span	-
Title	Basal cell carcinoma classification
Author	Noora Neittaanmäki Kajsa Villiamsson Jan Siarov Filmon Yacob Juulia T Suvilehto Lisa Sjöblom Magnus Kjellberg John Paoli
Year	2023
DOI	doi:10.23698/aida/bccc
Status	Completed
Version	1.0.2
Scans	2827
Annotations	0
Size	11.22TB
Resolution	x40
Modality	SM
Scanner	NanoZoomer S360 Hamamatsu
Stain	H&E (hematoxylin and eosin)
Phase
References	Yacob, F., Siarov, J., Villiamsson, K. et al. Weakly supervised detection and classification of basal cell carcinoma using graph-transformer on whole slide images. Sci Rep 13, 7555 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33863-z Björkman, J., Lagerroth, S., Siarov, J. et al. Enhancing basal cell carcinoma classification in preoperative biopsies via transfer learning with weakly supervised graph transformers. BMC Med Imaging 25, 166 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-025-01710-4 Kajsa Villiamsson, Ludvig Forndstedt, Geert Litjens, Nelli Sjöblom, Olivia Vesala, Filmon Yacob, John Paoli, Noora Neittaanmäki. Detection of Basal Cell Carcinoma on Whole-slide Images from Mohs Micrographic Surgery Using Weakly Supervised Learning. JAAD International 2026; 28,76-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdin.2026.07.004
Copyright	Copyright 2023 University of Gothenburg, Noora Neittaanmäki
Access	Available under the following licenses, described in the License section below. Controlled access Free for use in legal and ethical medical diagnostics research. AIDA BY license Free for use within AIDA with attribution and co-authorship.

Annotation

The data is annotated on a slide level into four aggressivity tumour subtypes: low aggressive Ia (nodular) and Ib (superficial) and more aggressive subtypes II (medium aggressive) and III (high aggressive). Of these, types Ia and Ib represent low risk and II and III high risk tumors according to WHO classilification of skin tumors (4th Edition 2018).

File formats

The dataset consists of two types of images: Histopathological slides are stored as .ndpi (size per slide 1-5.5GB). Annotations are provided as .csv files (one for main data set, one for test set)

License

Controlled access

Free for use in legal and ethical medical diagnostics research.

To request access to the dataset, use the Apply for access button below. Note that the recipient researcher must hold at least a PhD degree in a relevant field and that the applicant should be an authorized signatory who can legally enter into data sharing agreements on the behalf of the institution.

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AIDA BY license

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this data within Analytic Imaging Diagnostics Arena (AIDA) for the purpose of medical diagnostics research with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies, and that publications resulting from the use of this data cite the following works:

Noora Neittaanmäki, Kajsa Villiamsson, Jan Siarov, Filmon Yacob, Juulia T Suvilehto, Lisa Sjöblom, Magnus Kjellberg, and John Paoli (2023) Basal cell carcinoma classification doi:10.23698/aida/bccc

Yacob, F., Siarov, J., Villiamsson, K. et al. Weakly supervised detection and classification of basal cell carcinoma using graph-transformer on whole slide images. Sci Rep 13, 7555 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33863-z

Björkman, J., Lagerroth, S., Siarov, J. et al. Enhancing basal cell carcinoma classification in preoperative biopsies via transfer learning with weakly supervised graph transformers. BMC Med Imaging 25, 166 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-025-01710-4

Kajsa Villiamsson, Ludvig Forndstedt, Geert Litjens, Nelli Sjöblom, Olivia Vesala, Filmon Yacob, John Paoli, Noora Neittaanmäki. Detection of Basal Cell Carcinoma on Whole-slide Images from Mohs Micrographic Surgery Using Weakly Supervised Learning. JAAD International 2026; 28,76-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdin.2026.07.004

THE DATA IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS DATA INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DATA.