THE PATTERN OF SKIN CANCERS AT A REFERRAL HOSPITAL IN NORTHERN SAUDI-ARABIA

21 patients with biopsy-proven skin cancers were seen during an 8-year period (January 1988 to December 1995) at a referral hospital in Nort hern Saudi Arabia. The annual incidence of skin cancers was 2.63 per 1 00,000 base population. Skin cancer was the fourth most common cancer, constituting about 10% (21/211) of the total malignant neoplasms seen in the hospital during the study period. Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest type of skin cancer (38.1% of total skin cancers), with an annual incidence of 1 per 100,000. It was closely followed by basal cell carcinoma (33.3%) with an annual incidence of 0.88 per 100,000 a nd malignant melanoma (23.8%) with an incidence of 0.63 per 100,000 pe r annum. There was one case of Kaposi's sarcoma (4.8%) with an annual incidence of 0.13 per 100,000. Skin cancer was more common in males, w ith a M/F ratio of 2:1. The ratio of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) to squ amous cell carcinoma (SCC) was 0.88 to 1. This contrasts with Caucasia n populations, which tend to have a higher BCC/SCC ratio. A similar pa ttern has been reported from studies in the Southern provinces. The re latively low incidence of skin cancers as compared to Western countrie s, despite the long sunny periods, may be due to the relatively young population and the dark skin colour of most Saudis.