ABSTRACT
Skin cancer [SC] is a group of malignancies which include primary and metastatic tumors which involve the skin and its appendages. Up to the present, only a few studies on the clinical features and the trend of S have been reported but the status in West China is still undetermined. The S cases were from a major hospital in West China. A total of 1048 cases from 1981 to 2006 were included in our study. The clinical features of S including age, gender, lesion location and pathological diagnosis were analyzed. In order to illustrate the trend of S incidence, the patients from 1981-1993 and 1994- 2006 were assigned to group A and B respectively. The percentage of S in all malignancies [Ms], including all kinds of internal carcinomas and skin cancers, and the percentage of S in inpatients and outpatients [IOPs] between group A and B were separately compared to illustrate the trend in S incidence in this area. [1] Of the 1048 S s included, 308 [29.4%] were squamous cell carcinoma [S C], 293 [28.0%] basal cell carcinoma [B] and 168 [16.0%] cutaneous malignant melanoma [MM] .Ratio of male to female was 1.5:1.0.Median age was 54.0 +/- 23.0 years.40.8%of the S s occurred on the head, 35.0%on the trunk and 24.2%on the extremities. Median age of MM [53.0 +/- 22.5] was less than those of B [58.0 +/- 18.3 years] and S [57.0 +/- 20.0 years] .83.6%of the B s, 49.8%of the S s and 13.5% of the CMMs occurred on the head. [2] Of the 168 MMs, 106 [63.1%] occurred on the acral, 23 [13.7%] on the head, 24 [14.3%] on the trunk and 15 [8.9%] on the limbs. Of the 106 acral melanoma [AM], 41 [38.7%] occurred on the plantar skin, 19 [17.9%] on the heel, 15 [14.2%] on the subungual skin of thumbs, 13 [12.3%] on the subungual skin of big toes and 18 [17.0%] on other acra. [3] The percentages of S in IOPs [S s/IOPs] in Group A and B were 0.0038% [325/8, 457, 672], 0.0066% [723/11, 037, 720], an increase of by 74%.The percentages of S in all Ms [S /Ms] were 2.1% [325/15, 363] and 3.1% [723/23, 364], an increase of 48%.During the same period, the percentages of Ms in IOPs [Ms/IOPs] were 0.18% [15, 363/8, 457, 672] and 0.21% [23, 364/11, 037, 720], increased only by 17%. In our study, S C, B and MM were major S types. The head and trunk are the main sites for S occurring. AM is the most common MM. In past 26 years, the percentages of S in all malignancies and in inpatients and outpatients have increased in this hospital. The finding in our study provides a clue for understanding of the trend of S in West China