Analysis of the Clinical Characteristics of Cutaneous Malignant Tumors: 11-year Single-center Study in Daejeon City and Chungnam Province / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of cutaneous malignant tumors has been increasing worldwide due to changes in various environmental factors. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to analyze the overall tendency of clinical characteristics in single-center patients with cutaneous malignant tumors according to sex, age, duration, size, anatomic site, treatment, and concomitant diseases. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and clinical photographs of 319 patients diagnosed with cutaneous malignant tumors (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, lymphoma, Paget's disease, metastatic skin cancer, mycosis fungoides, angiosarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, Kaposi sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, Merkel cell carcinoma) and 109 patients diagnosed with premalignant tumors (Bowen's disease) between January 2007 and January 2017. RESULTS: The average annual incidence of malignant cutaneous tumors was 2.4%. In total, 158 males (36.9%) and 270 females (63.1%) were included with a mean age of onset of 66 years. Among the malignant tumors, basal cell carcinoma (30.8%) was the most common, while the incidences of squamous cell carcinoma (18.9%), melanoma (6.3%), and lymphoma (4.4%) were also high. The predominantly involved anatomic sites were the face (67.3%), trunk (11.5%), and legs (10.9%). Most cases involved solitarily existing tumors (77.3%), and pruritus (21.7%) was the most common accompanying symptom. Among the 69.6% of patients who received treatment for their tumors, the most common method was surgical removal. No significant increase in concomitant diseases or environmental factors was detected. CONCLUSION: Our study is meaningful as an overall and recent review of various types of cutaneous malignancies that provides preliminary data for further large-scale nationwide studies.