Malignant cutaneous tumors of the scalp: a study of demographic characteristics and histologic distributions of 398 Taiwanese patients.
BACKGROUND
The scalp is a unique anatomic region, in which pilosebaceous follicles are concentrated.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to investigate demographic characteristics and histologic distributions of malignant scalp tumors.


METHODS
Primary and metastatic scalp malignancies diagnosed histopathologically between 1983 and 2003 were reviewed. Age at diagnosis, sex, and histologic types were analyzed.


RESULTS
A total of 398 Taiwanese patients (200 males, 198 females) were selected. Age at diagnosis ranged from 3 to 103 years. Most malignant scalp tumors (69.8%) occurred in those 50 years or older. Basal (41.2%) and squamous (16.6%) cell carcinomas were the most common histologic types. Surprisingly, metastatic tumors (12.8%) came in third, in which lung cancers were the most frequent primary tumor in both male and female patients.


CONCLUSIONS
In our series, the case number of metastatic scalp malignancies was underestimated because not all patients with metastatic scalp tumors received a scalp skin biopsy.


CONCLUSIONS
Because a wide spectrum of primary and metastatic malignancies can occur on the scalp, scalp inspection should be included in general screening for either skin or internal cancers.
Chiu
Cheng-Sheng
CS
Department of Dermatology, Min-Sheng General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Lin
Chyi-Yih
CY
Kuo
Tseng-Tong
TT
Kuan
Yue-Zon
YZ
Chen
Min-Jing
MJ
Ho
Hsin-Chun
HC
Yang
Li-Chen
LC
Chen
Chien-Hsun
CH
Shih
I-Hsin
IH
Hong
Hong-Shang
HS
Chuang
Ya-Hui
YH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018223:Dermatofibrosarcoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012535:Scalp; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology