A Clinical Investigation of Cutaneous Malignant Tumors in Western Gyeongnam Province

Yoon, Tae Jin; Kim, Haeng Seok; Oh, Chee Won; Kim, Tae Heung

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Korea, especially in the Western Gyeongnam area, the exact prevalence and characteristics of skin tumors are unknown. The increasing incidence of skin cancer has been attributed to the increase iin exposure of the population to sunlight and other factors, such as chemicals or viruses.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is the investigation of clinical and histopathological observation of cutaneous maligrant tumors in the Western Gyeongnam area.
METHODS
This study was based on the analysis of 125 cases of cutaneous malignant tumor patients between January, 1990 and December, 1996 at the Department of Dermatology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital.
RESULTS
The results are summarized as follows: 1. The mean incidence of cutaneous malignant tumors in the total number of outpatients was 0.15% (125/84,208). 2. The age of onset was quite varied but the majority of cases, 119 cases(95.2%), were over 40 years old. The ratio of men to women was 1.05:1. 3. Among the 125 cases of cutaneous malignant tumors, the most frequently observed tumor was basal cell carcinoma, 50 cases(40.0%). The next was squamous cell carcinoma, 42 cases(33.6%). 4. We observed three aases of metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. Two cases(squamous cell carcinoma and malignant, melanoma) were metastasized into the regional lymph nodes. One case(basal cell carcinoma) into the ribs.
CONCLUSIONS
We investigated the clinical observations of 125 cutaneous malignant tumor patients in our clinic and made a comparative study. This data will be available for the study of cutaneous malignant tumors in the future.