Review of the clinical features of skin cancer: A study of 1,048 cases from a hospital in West China

Abstract

Background Skin cancer (SC) is a group of malignancies which include primary andmetastatic tumors which involve the skin and its appendages. Up to the present, only afew studies on the clinical features and the trend of SC have been reported but thestatus in West China is still undetermined.Patients and methods The SC cases were from a major hospital in West China. A totalof 1048 cases from 1981 to 2006 were included in our study. The clinical features of SCincluding age, gender, lesion location and pathological diagnosis were analyzed. Inorder to illustrate the trend of SC incidence, the patients from 1981-1993 and 1994-2006 were assigned to group A and B, respectively. The percentage of SC in allmalignancies (Ms), including all kinds of internal carcinomas and skin cancers, and thepercentage of SC in inpatients and outpatients (IOPs) between group A and B wereseparately compared to illustrate the trend in SC incidence in this area.Results (1) Of the 1048 SCs included, 308 (29.4%) were squamous cell carcinoma(SCC), 293 (28.0%) basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 168 (16.0%) cutaneous malignantmelanoma (CMM). Ratio of male to female was 1.5: 1.0. Median age was 54.0±23.0years. 40.8% of the SCs occurred on the head, 35.0% on the trunk and 24.2% on theextremities. Median age of CMM (53.0±22.5) was less than those of BCC (58.0±18.3years) and SCC (57.0±20.0 years). 83.6% of the BCCs, 49.8% of the SCCs and 13.5%of the CMMs occurred on the head. (2) Of the 168 CMMs, 106 (63.1%) occurred on theacral, 23 (13.7%) on the head, 24 (14.3%) on the trunk and 15 (8.9%) on the limbs. Ofthe 106 acral melanoma (AM), 41 (38.7%) occurred on the plantar skin, 19 (17.9%) onthe heel, 15 (14.2%) on the subungual skin of thumbs, 13 (12.3%) on the subungualskin of big toes and 18 (17.0%) on other acra. (3) The percentages of SC in IOPs(SCs/IOPs) in Group A and B were 0.0038% (325/8,457,672), 0.0066%141Address for correspondenceDr. Sun Dong-Jie, MD, PhDCenter of Dermatology of Chinese PLA XijingHospital, Fourth Military Medical University,Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 710032Email: sundongjieder@yahoo.com.cnJournal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists 2007; 17: 141-148.(723/11,037,720), an increase of by 74%. The percentages of SC in all Ms (SC/Ms)were 2.1% (325/15,363) and 3.1% (723/23,364), an increase of 48%. During the sameperiod, the percentages of Ms in IOPs (Ms/IOPs) were 0.18% (15,363/8,457,672) and0.21% (23,364/11,037,720), increased only by 17%.Conclusions In our study, SCC, BCC and CMM were major SC types. The head andtrunk are the main sites for SC occurring. AM is the most common CMM. In past 26years, the percentages of SC in all malignancies and in inpatients and outpatients haveincreased in this hospital. The finding in our study provides a clue for understanding ofthe trend of SC in West China.