Investigation of clinical characteristics of head and neck skin cancer patients referred to Imam Reza Birjand Hospital from 2016 to 2020

Head and neck skin cancers are the most frequent malignancies in Iran and across the globe. Skin malignancies are caused by a variety of risk factors, including sunshine and vitamin D deficiency. Despite the relatively high number of sunshine days per year in Southern Khorasan, there is insufficient research investigating skin malignancies in this province. This study aimed to characterize head skin (face/scalp) malignancies in patients admitted to the surgical ward at Imam Reza Hospital in Birjand between October 2016 and October 2020.

Ninety-nine patients with head skin cancers from Southern Khorasan province were recruited in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. The patients were diagnosed in the surgical ward of Imam Reza Hospital in Birjand from October 2016 to October 2020. The required data were collected using a checklist based on patients’ files, and the data were analyzed using the Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests in SPSS software (Version. 16). The level of significance was set at P <0.05.

Patients with Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were on average 68 years and 74 years old, respectively. BCC (73.74%) was the most prevalent neoplasm, followed by SCC (23.23%) and melanoma (3.03%). The nose (28.1%), cheeks (27.1%), and scalp (19.8%) were the most frequent locations of involvement. In individuals with non-melanotic skin cancers, the mean lesion size was 12 mm in the BCC group and 23 mm in the SCC group.

BCC was the most common head and facial skin neoplasm. Participants did not differ significantly in terms of age and gender. The most common location of involvement was the nose. SCC lesions were significantly greater in size than non-melanotic lesions. Only one case of metastasis was found at hospital admission.