ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many stu iies focused on the distribution of skin tumors, but none of them included the data refered from primat y physicians in Korea. OBJECTIVE: This study was to investigate the incidence and distribution of skin tumors among Korean people. METHODS: A Total of 3738 cases of skin tumor biopsy specimens referred from primary physicians nationwide to Ewon Reference Laboratory(EWON) from July 1989 to June 1992 were reviewed with a microscope, and classified. The result was compared with the data of skin tumor cases biopsied during the same period at the department of dermatology of Asan Medical Center (AMC). RESULTS: 1. Of all skin turnors reviewed, malignant tumors were 3.9% at EWON and 11.0% at Asan Medical Center. 2. The most common primary malignant tumors of the skin were in the order of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma in both centers. 3. The most common benign tumors were in the order of epidermal cyst, lipoma, pilomatricoma, hemangioma, and dermatofibroma at EWON, and epidermal cyst, seborrheic keratosis, syringoma, pyogenic granuloma, derr iatofibroma and lipoma at AMC. 4. While the prevalence of benign skin tumors were highest in the fourth & fifth decades, that of malignant skin tumorware highest in the sixth & seventh decades. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the data obtained from tertiary hospitals can be quite different from those of primaiy physicians and the incidence of malignant skin tumors can be overestirnated when only data from large university hospitals were included.