Sex-specific differences in patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer of the pinna

Ulrich Moser; Alexandros Andrianakis; Prisca Pondorfer; Axel Wolf; Matthias Graupp; Thomas Weiland; Clemens Holzmeister; Dominik Wild; Dietmar Thurnher

doi:10.1002/hed.26237

Sex-specific differences in patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer of the pinna

Head Neck. 2020 Sep;42(9):2414-2420. doi: 10.1002/hed.26237. Epub 2020 May 5.

Authors

Ulrich Moser¹, Alexandros Andrianakis¹, Prisca Pondorfer¹, Axel Wolf¹, Matthias Graupp¹, Thomas Weiland¹, Clemens Holzmeister¹, Dominik Wild², Dietmar Thurnher¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Schwestern Ried, Ried im Innkreis, Austria.

Abstract

Background: Generally, it is known that men are affected more frequently by nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) than women. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of sex on the characteristics of NMSCs of the pinna at the population that our center serves and to compare it with the international data.

Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the data of 225 patients with NMSC of the pinna. Sex-specific differences were investigated for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) subgroups.

Results: The ratio of BCC to cSCC was determined in male patients at 1:1.3, in contrast in females it was identified at 4:1 (P = .001).

Conclusion: In our study, a new aspect of the sex-dependent distribution of cSCC and BCC of the pinna was demonstrated. Women are affected four times more frequently by BCC than by cSCC, whereas in men this ratio is approximately equal.

Keywords: basal cell carcinoma; nonmelanoma skin cancer; pinna; sex; squamous cell carcinoma.

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Carcinoma, Basal Cell* / epidemiology
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Sex Distribution
Skin Neoplasms* / epidemiology