Incidence and Pattern of Skin Cancer: Experience of Two Re- ferral Hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This retrospective study describes the pattern of malignant skin tumors in 74 cases seen at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between 1984 and 1996, and at King Khalid National Guard Hospital between 1994 and 1996. Among the 53 cases of known nationalities, 28 were Saudis and 25 were non-Saudis. The male to female ratio of all cases was 1.7:1.0. The mean age was 53 years. Basal cell carcinoma was the most common cancer (35%), followed by Squamous cell carcinoma (20%), and Malignant Melanoma (10.6%). Basal cell carcinoma occurred on the head compared to Squamous cell carcinoma, which occurred on the head and extremities in equal frequency, while melanoma occurred mainly on the extremities. Cutaneous t-cell lymphoma occurred in 6.6% of the cases, while Kaposi sarcoma occurred in 5.4% of cases. Findings were compared with the available studies in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries.