Skin cancer as a cause of death in Denmark.

Denmark has a well-established nation-wide registration system for cancer incidence and mortality. In 1984, 2984 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer were notified to the Danish Cancer Registry and 40 deaths were attributed to this cause. An evaluation and validation of the death certificates indicate that the true number of deaths caused by non-melanoma skin cancer was 18. Basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma accounted for three and 15 of the deaths, respectively. The estimated lethality is 4.3% for squamous cell carcinoma and 0.12% for basal cell carcinoma.

[Non-melanoma skin cancer as a cause of death in Denmark]. / Non-melanom hudcancer som dødsårsag i Danmark.

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) differs from other forms of cancer by a high incidence combined with a very low lethality. In Denmark there is a well-established registration system of both the cause of death and the incidence of cancer. In 1984, 2,984 cases of NMSC were notified to the Cancer Register while, according to the Register of Causes of Death, 40 persons were registered as having died from NMSC. These 40 cases were investigated further by means of information from the case records and the general practitioners. In only 18 out of the 40 cases death was caused by NMSC, basal cell carcinoma with invasion into vital organs in three cases and metastasing spinocellular carcinoma in 15 cases. Over half of the fatal cases of spinocellular carcinoma were localized around the outer openings on the face, primarily (n = 4) around the external auditory meatus. In this review, the estimated lethality for basal cell carcinoma was 0.12% and for spinocellular carcinoma 4.3% the latter being high compared with other studies. Comparable population based studies are not available due to less effective registration systems.