Proportion and histopathological features of cutaneous malignant tumors diagnosed in a tertiary care center in Kabul, Afghanistan

Abstract

Cutaneous cancers are the most common type of malignant tumor worldwide, particularly in countries such as Afghanistan, where people have a fair pigmented skin. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and histopathological characteristics of skin cancers diagnosed at a tertiary care level over a period of five years in Kabul, Afghanistan. This cross sectional retrospective analytic study included 436 patients of all age groups diagnosed with malignant skin neoplasms at the Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory, French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children, Kabul, Afghanistan. Patient records from the past five years were reviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyze the proportion, characteristics, and sex distribution of cutaneous malignant tumors. The majority of patients were male, and squamous cell carcinoma was the most common type of skin cancer, accounting for 52.5% of cases, followed by basal cell carcinoma (35.8%), malignant melanoma (5%), and other skin malignancies, including Kaposi sarcoma, sebaceous carcinoma, and dermatofibrosarcoma (6.7%). The head and neck region were the most frequently affected area (66.9%), with nose being the most common site in both sexes. In males, orbital area was the second most frequently involved region, followed by ears, whereas in females, involvement of ears and orbital region was notably low. Particularly, among 190 clinically excised lesions (43.5%), only 39% were microscopically confirmed to have negative resection margins, indicating complete removal. In conclusion, our study identified squamous cell carcinoma as the most common type of skin cancer in Afghanistan, followed by basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. Additionally, the lack of complete clinical information in majority of histopathology request forms and high frequency of clinically excised tumors with microscopically involved margins were significant findings of our study.