Skin Cancer: ClinicoPathological Study of 204 Patients in Southern Governorates of Yemen.

BACKGROUND: Skin cancer is a group of heterogeneous malignancies, in general classified into nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and melanoma skin cancer (MSC). Incidences are high in many parts in the world with considerable geographical and racial variation. In the Yemen, there has been scarce information about skin cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and histological trend of skin cancer in Southern Governorates of Yemen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study covered 204 cases of skin cancer at the Modern Histopathology Laboratory and Aden Cancer Registry and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Aden, for the period 20062013. Data were classified regarding different demographic and tumor related variables and analyzed using CanReg4 for cancer registry and SPSS (version 21).

RESULTS: The commonest encountered skin cancer was NMSC (93.1%). Generally, skin cancer appears slightly more frequently in females than males with a 1:1.06 male: female ratio, with a mean age of 62.9 years. Slightly higher than onethird (36.3%) were from Aden governorate. The head and neck proved to be the most common site in both males and females (58%). Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common histological type of skin cancer (50.5%).

CONCLUSIONS: Skin cancer is a common cancer in patients living in southern governorates of Yemen. The pattern appears nearly similar to the international figures with a low incidence of MSC.