Estimates of the Skin Cancer Incidence in Zacatecas, México

Abstract

In the State of Zacatecas, Mexico, 731 histopathologically confirmed cases of skin cancer were recorded: 62.1% (454) were basal cell carcinomas (BCC), 26.3% (191) were squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 11.8% (86) were melanomas (M). A significantly higher proportion was observed in women: 58.6%, compared to 41.4% in men. For the ensemble of pathologies, the highest frequency corresponded to the 70-79 age group, with 156 cases (21.4%); next highest was the 50-59 group with 95 cases (13%). However, this type of behavior was not identical for the three pathologies. In the case of melanoma a large number of cases was encountered in the 30-39 age group. With regard to anatomical location, for BCC the most common site was the face (55.66%), predominantly on the nose, while for SCC it was the lip. The location data indicate that solar UV radiation is a risk factor, since the head is the zone most exposed to solar radiation. Linear regression analysis showed that only the incidence of SCC is progressively increasing (at an annual rate on the order of 5%), while BCC and M were randomly distributed in time. Skin cancer incidence, determined by studies histopathologically confirmed, was in 2007 for all three pathologies 12 cases of cancer for each 100,000 inhabitants: 7.5 cases of BCC, 3.1 of SCC, and 1.4 of M.