Dates: 2023
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mojeed Oyedeji
Description: Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths in this century. Skin cancer is the sixth deadliest form of cancer. In the United States, there are 5.4 million new cases of skin cancer each year [1]. Melanoma, although very rare, is the deadliest form of skin cancer. It represents a mere 5% of skin cancer cases in the US and accounts for about 75% of deaths resulting from skin cancer with a staggering figure of about 10,000 deaths annually [1] . Among healthcare practitioners, early detection has been recommended to save lives. In the case of melanoma, its 5-year survival rate improves from over 99% to 14% if it is detected early enough. According to a study on skin cancer in Saudi Arabia published in 2011 [2] , where 106 cases of skin cancers were analyzed among patients in King Abdul Aziz Hospital between 2000 and 2010, there were about 28.3% basal cell carcinoma (BCC), 24.5% squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 18% mycosis fungoidis (MF), 10.3% malignant melanoma (MM ), 2.8% basosquamous cell carcinoma (BSCC), 1.9% kaposi sarcoma (KS). In 2016, a study conducted at the John Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Center in Dhahran [3], covering the period between 1995 to 2014 revealed that of the 204 cases of skin tumors studied, 36% were basal cell carcinoma (BCC), 23% were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 11% were mycosis fungoides and malignant melanoma was the fourth common with about 7% cases reported. Another study published in the Saudi Medical Journal in 2020 featuring a retrospective investigation [4] of Saudi and non-Saudi patients who attended King Khalid University Hospital from 2007-2018 revealed that of the 9829 cases of skin disease examined, 111 cases were diagnosed as skin cancers. Out of the 111 cases, 68.5%, 16.2%, and 15.3% were BCC, MSC (melanoma skin cancer), and SCC respectively.