Abstract

Malignant skin tumors are the most frequent in Brazil, corresponding to 30% of all cancers registered in the country, of which melanoma skin cancer represents 3% of skin neoplasms. The most frequent non-melanoma skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma, followed by squamous cell carcinoma. The main risk factor for skin cancers is chronic exposure to sunlight, in addition to fair-skinned individuals. The research has as variables to be analyzed: patient’s age, gender, skin color, profession, previous comorbidities, anatomopathological diagnosis and affected site, so that prevention campaigns can be invested from the analyzed epidemiological data. It was an observational, retrospective and descriptive study, with analysis and records of outpatient care records of Casa de Saúde Hospital, in the period of January 2017 to March 2021. We analyzed the electronic medical records of 491 patients who underwent surgical procedures at the hospital. 46 patients obtained the anatomopathological diagnosis of skin cancer and participated in the research. The average age of patients with skin cancer was 64 years old, with the prevalence of males than females. The white color was affected in 97.8% of the analyzed patients, as well as the main origin was Santa Maria/ RS. Regarding those who informed the professions, farmers, construction workers and “home workers” obtained the highest percentages. The main comorbidities described were systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and smoking (65.8%, 23.7% and 23.7% respectively). The BCCs were linked like the predominant lesions in the study, affecting 30 patients (65.2%), 2 of which were ulcerated (6.7%). Furthermore, its main locations were head/face and anterior/posterior trunk. On the other hand, SCC’s totaled 13 cases (28.3%), located in the head/face, anterior/posterior trunk and lower limbs. Melanomic skin tumors were present in 3 cases (6.5%), 2 of them in the lower limbs and the rest in the anterior/ posterior trunk. The greatest number of skin cancers was analyzed in areas more exposed to the sun, confirming the importance of primary prevention and the use of high SPF, in addition to behavioral measures. The results obtained suggest further studies with larger population samples for a better assessment of risk factors related to this pathology.

Keywords

skin cancer, melanomics, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), prevention