PATTERN OF SKIN MALIGNANCIES IN PATIENTS PRESENTING TO DERMATOLOGY DEPTARTMENT HAYATABAD MEDICAL COMPLEX PESHAWAR

Objective: this study was conducted to determine the pattern of cutaneous malignancies among patients attending the skin out-patient department hayatabad medical complex peshawar. methodology: this was descriptive analysis of skin cancers carried from january 2011 to december 2011. histologically diagnosed skin cancers were reviewed and analyzed according to age, gender, site of distribution and histological types. results: hundred histologically diagnosed skin malignancies were reported during the period under review. sixty cases (60%) were males and 40 cases (40%) females with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. age ranged from 22 years to 86 years. mean age was 57.05+_11.39 sd. mean duration of disease in months were 16.78+_ 9.07sd. basal cell carcinoma (bcc) was the most common malignancy consisting of 32(32%) cases followed by squamous cell carcinoma (scc 18%) with 10 (10%) cases of melanoma and 9(9%) cases of mycosis fungoides. actinic keratosis, kaposi’s sarcoma, bowen’s disease, dermatofibroma, atypical fibroxanthoma constituted the remaining. conclusion: the most common skin malignancy was bcc followed by scc and melanoma. larger studies should be conducted to ascertain the actual prevalence of skin tumors.