The Burden of Skin Cancers in Saudi Arabia Through 2011-2022

Introduction Skin cancers are classified into melanoma and non-melanoma or keratinocyte cancers. No recent data are found about the epidemiology of skin cancers in Saudi Arabia. The current study aims to determine the burden of skin cancer in the last 11 years from 2011 to 2022. Methods Patients who were diagnosed with any type of skin cancer were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis was conducted based on histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Different variables like age, type of cancer, type of lesions, and treatment approach used were measured. Results A total of 91 patients were diagnosed with skin cancers during the study period. The head and neck were the most common sites for skin cancers. Only 4/91 cases reported invasive melanoma. Both squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (34/91) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) (28/91) were found to be the most reported skin cancers. Other cancers including mycosis fungoides (MF) (10/91), Kaposi’s sarcoma (6/91), and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) (5/91) were also detected. The rest of the detected tumors were rarely detected. Aggressive CD4+/CD4+/CD8+ MF was more prevalent than CD3+/CD4+/CD8- MF cancer cases. CD34+ /S100- DFSP cancers were evident in most of the DFSP cases. Human herpes virus 8 was detected in all Kaposi’s sarcoma cases and all of them were HIV-confirmed cases. Surgical treatment was the most frequently used approach to treat skin cancers, followed by phototherapy (9.9%), surgical/radiotherapy (5.5%), surgical/chemotherapy (4.4%), chemotherapy (3.3%), and then chemoradiotherapy immunotherapy (1.1%). Conclusion The incidences of SCC and BCC are relatively high in comparison to other types of skin cancers with the surgical intervention being most frequently used.