Histopathological Pattern of Skin Cancers in Abakaliki, Southeast, Nigeria

ABSTRACT Skin cancers involve malignancies that arise from different layers of the skin and have become a global public health problem with an increasingly prevalent rate. There is an increasing rate of this global burden linked to the depletion of the ozone layer. We aim to determine the histological pattern of skin cancers in a tertiary hospital in Abakaliki, Southeast Nigeria. We conducted a fourteen-year retrospective study at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Southeast, Nigeria. We went through our records of all the skin tumours managed in the Division of Plastic Surgery and collected the data of all the cases whose biopsies were sent to the Morbid Anatomy department for diagnoses. All the skin cancers that were histologically diagnosed between 2006 and 2019 were included. The data collected included age, sex, site of lesion, and histological diagnosis. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Our results showed that seventy-three skin cancers were diagnosed within the 14-year study period. There were more skin cancers in females with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.7. The peak age range of occurrence was 30-39 years, with a mean age of 45+16 years. Skin cancers were uncommon in children. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most common skin cancer (26.0%, 19), followed by malignant melanoma (MM) (19.1%, 14). The majority of skin cancers were found to be located on the lower limb. Malignant melanoma was located in the lower limb alone. Skin cancers in Abakaliki are more common in females than in males. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common skin malignancy in Abakaliki. Also, all the malignant melanomas were located on the lower limb, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma was seen only in females.