An Epidemiologic Analysis of Cutaneous Malignant Tumors over 15 Years (1984-1998)

Shin, Jeong Hyun; Cho, Soyun; Whang, Kyu Kwang; Hahm, Jeong Hee

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence of cutaneous malignant tumors has rapidly increased.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to discuss current epidemiologic data of cutaneous malignant tumors and to compare them with other data previously reported.
METHODS
Clinical data and histopathologic reports of 177 cases of cutaneous malignant tumors were analyzed retrospectively with respect to the incidence, age and sex distributions, and anatomical sites, during a 15-year period between January, 1984 and December, 1998, at the Department of Dermatology, Ewha Womans University Tongdaemoon Hospital in Seoul, Korea.
RESULTS
& CONCLUSION: 1. The average annual incidence of cutaneous malignant tumors among the total number of outpatients was 0.085%. The incidence tended to increase with time from 0.057% in the first 7 year-period to 0.14% in the last 8 year-period. 2. The most common cutaneous malignant tumor was basal cell carcinoma(44.1%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma(21.5%), malignant melanoma(10.2%), and metastatic carcinoma(6.2%). 3. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 54.8 years in the group as a whole and the ratio of men to women was 1.08:1. 4. The most common site of all cutaneous malignant tumors was the head and neck(61.0%), followed by the upper and lower extremities(17.5%), trunk(14.1%), and anogenital area(6.8%).