Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND :
There are three major types of skin cancer; basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant melanoma.The distribution of these tumors on the face follows particular anatomical regions which may be related to histological subtypes of the tumor.
OBJECTIVE:
To describe and compare the clinicopathological characteristics of epidermal skin cancers regarding facial distribution of these tumors and their histological correlations.
METHODS:
Data sources for this retrospective case-series study included all pathological reports of patients with epidermal skin cancers diagnosed at histopathology laboratory of Al-Jamhuri Teaching Hospital in Mosul city between the years 2008 and 2010.
RESULTS:
There were 117 patients with different facial epidermal skin cancers. BCC represented the highest frequency (68.3%) among all facial epidermal skin cancers (and the most frequent eyelid malignancy), followed by SCC (28.5%) while malignant melanoma was the least frequent skin cancer (3.2%). There was no difference in the frequency of distribution of both BCC and SCC between nose and cheek (p=1, p=1, respectively) but the nose was the most frequent region of involvement of the nodular variant of BCC. Preexisting mole, xeroderma pigmentosa, actinic keratoses and scar of previous burns were found to be associated with different epidermal skin cancer.
CONCLUSION:
BCC was the most frequent epidermal skin cancer of the face followed by SCC. Histological variant of BCCs followed variable facial distribution , while no difference in facial involvement was found regarding BCCs and SCCs.