Sex-Dependent Distribution of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers of the Pinna
Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Dietmar Thurnher, MD, of the Medical University of Graz, Austria, and colleagues aggregated data to examine the sex-dependent distribution of basal cell carcinomas and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas of the pinna. The results, which were published in Head & Neck, may prove to be useful in the diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancers under complex anatomic conditions.
“Women are affected four times more frequently by basal cell carcinoma than by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, whereas in men this ratio is approximately equal,” the investigators commented. “[This knowledge] should be used carefully in risk evaluation of suspect lesions at the pinna.”
Using clinical data from 2005 through 2015, the investigators identified 151 males and 74 females with non-melanoma skin cancer of the pinna. All 225 patients had a histologically confirmed cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma.
According to the analyses, women were more frequently diagnosed with basal cell carcinomas (73.7%) than cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (23.7%). In men, these incidence rates appeared to be nearly equivalent (47% vs. 53%, respectively). In men, there was an equal distribution of basal cell carcinoma to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, whereas in women, basal cell carcinomas were four times more common than cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The median age at diagnosis of both basal cell carcinomas (73.6 vs. 71.8 years) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (81.2 vs. 74.6 years; P = .003) was higher in woman than in men. In cases of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the recurrence rates were higher in men (27.5%) than in women (16.7%); however, basal cell carcinoma appeared to recur more often in women (25%) than in men (12.7%).
In both men and women, the majority of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas occurred on the helix (50% and 66.7%, respectively). The most common tumor sites of basal cell carcinomas were the cavum conchae (31% and 35.7%, respectively) and the helix (26.8% and 37.5%, respectively).
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
