Skin cancer incidence in rural workers at a reference hospital in western Paraná

BACKGROUND: Skin cancer is common in Brazil and is related to sun exposure, among other risk factors. There are no data on the incidence of malignant skin neoplasm in rural workers in western Paraná. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence and profile of rural workers who were diagnosed with skin cancer at a reference service in Cascavel, western Paraná, in the last five years (2011-2016). METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out through a review of the anatomopathological reports of rural workers diagnosed with skin cancer at Cascavel Oncology Center (CEONC), in Cascavel. The following variables were collected: year of diagnosis, age, gender, injury location and histological subtype. RESULTS: A total of 681 cases of malignant epithelial neoplasia were identified, with a higher frequency in the 61-70 age group. Data analysis showed an increase of about 210% in the occurrence of skin cancers in the last 5 years. The cephalic region was the most affected, and the most common histological subtype was nodular basal cell carcinoma. There was no association between gender and location. STUDY LIMITATIONS: This is a retrospective study and analysis of a secondary data bank. CONCLUSION: This study is a regional estimation of the incidence of cutaneous neoplasms and provides evidence of a considerable increase in the number of diagnoses in rural workers from western Paraná, Brazil. Moreover, it is possible to conclude that the sample group studied is at risk of developing skin cancer.